Halcyon Days
by peanutbutter126
Summary: Naruto never asked to wake up in a world where everything he knew did not exist. He wants to go home - but is home the past from which he came from, or by the side of the girl he fell in love with? AU. Time-travel.
1. Time Of Your Life

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

* * *

**Halcyon Days**

**Chapter One: Time Of Your Life**

~O~**  
**

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road  
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go  
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why  
It's not a question, but a lesson learnt in time  
_Time Of Your Life - Greenday_

~O~_  
_

The intense sunlight persistently trying to prise open his eyelids was a sure sign that he had slept in. In fact, he was probably late for... something. Too many things to keep track of, too little mind capacity. Jiraiya would kick his ass till he was sorry, he'd bet. The old pervert could be frighteningly severe when the occasion called for it – which it did.

Too bad. Jiraiya should know by now that his apprentice was not a morning person. Naruto rolled over onto his side, turning away from the sunlight, fashioning a pillow out of his arms. He didn't feel like opening his eyes just yet. It had been a while since he had been able to sleep in like this. It was a nice change.

Judging from the amount of noise and the commotion that reached his ears, the village was awake and running, as it always was at early hours these days. The village hardly slept anymore, not since it had been thrown in a state of constant chaos.

His bed felt curiously… pricklier than usual. Grumbling, Naruto reached over his shoulder for his blanket – and groped thin air. He felt around a bit more. It had probably slipped off the bed again. He must have been sleeping very deeply. With all the tension that had been straining his body, it was definitely what he would have prescribed himself if he was a medic-nin. Nothing beat a good night's sleep and a bowl of hot ramen for breakfast. At least Ichiraku's was one of the few businesses still open.

His pleasurable reverie was disrupted as something started poking his backside. Naruto swatted blindly at the disturbance. "Five more minutes," he groaned. The poking stopped, and the blonde sighed in relief. They must have heard him.

But now there was something wet rubbing against his face. And licking it.

"Argh! What the hell?" Naruto floundered for a moment before he sat up and scrubbed at his face, nose wrinkled.

He could hear a voice calling nearby, gradually rising in volume. "Sarge? Where'd you... hey, come on, boy, leave him alone. He's been here for days... let's _go_, Sarge. We're going to be late."

It almost sounded like Kiba talking to Akamaru, Naruto mused to himself. Almost. He opened his eyes to see a black hound bounding back to its owner. The young man looked impatient. Squinting against the glare of the sun, Naruto saw that there were other morning-dwellers wandering about. He hadn't seen the park so lively since-

Wait.

Konoha's main park, along with most of the hospital, had been ravaged by the Akatsuki's latest invasion attempt. No one had the heart or resources to rebuild it – and even if they did, it was impossible that they could have managed it in one night.

The minor details started to jump out at Naruto as he surveyed his surroundings under a new light. It was too loud, too crowded, and none of the faces he could see were familiar.

More importantly, the people were smiling, content with life. They couldn't possibly be happy during a war period of dire consequences.

Everything clambered into Naruto's mind at once, making no sense at all – but for one realisation.

This was not home.

Naruto shakily got to his feet. His limbs felt... detached, as if he hadn't used them for a long time. Jelly-legs, Old Man Hokage used to call them. He missed that old geezer.

One glance told him that he was not in Konoha. There were just too many differences between the Leaf Village and this place. Trying to pinpoint each and every one of them was making his head spin. The disparity spread beyond terrain and the inhabitants – it didn't _feel_ like Konoha. It did not feel like anything he had come across before.

Any genius could have figured out that something must have happened. Naruto's blood chilled as he considered the possibility that he had been captured by the enemy. It didn't seem like it, with such freedom and no sign of an assault so far, but he reminded himself that it was not beyond Pain to play mind tricks. On that thought, he brought his hands together in a seal and murmured, "Kai!"

Naruto had an abnormally large chakra capacity thanks to his demon tenant. The number of times that he used up all his chakra had grudgingly risen since the war had reared its ugly head but it still was not commonplace for him to feel drained.

It was this habitual confidence that caused his heart to pound that much faster. His eyes widened in disbelief. His chakra had barely responded; his reserves felt depleted and suppressed. His second attempt met no avail. Nor did the third. It made him uneasy to be without chakra.

With the shade of the tree sheltering him from the streaks of sunlight that peeked through the awning of leaves, hardly anyone seemed to notice him. From his vantage point, Naruto could observe. Adrenaline and unease was quickly clustering his nerves even as he instructed himself to calm down and regulate his breathing. Freaking out was going to help no one.

The people looked ordinary enough. Most of them appeared to be on leisurely walks. They acted a little… differently to what Naruto was accustomed to. For starters, they didn't seem to know each other; in Konoha, your neighbour was your friend, and your neighbour's aunt on the other side of the village was your _mother's_ best friend. Everyone in the village knew each other.

It was the road that caught Naruto's attention. Kami, the _road_.

There were some hulking... things stationary by the side of the road. Most of them were easily larger than Akamaru had been, equipped with what looked like wheels and panes of glass that took Naruto several seconds to realise were windows. Another, of generally the same structure but a different colour and shape, rolled down the road. If Naruto hadn't caught a glimpse of a person sitting inside, he would have thought the thing was moving by itself.

Yet another of the strange machines passed by, this one different again. Followed by another. And another. He watched them travel by, mouth hanging slightly open. He didn't look away until a shrill parp tore through his stupor, making him wince. It had come from one of the weird contraptions. The road was choked with them.

Yeah, he was pretty sure by now that he had taken a wrong turn.

Naruto found himself on the footpath, though he couldn't remember when he had stepped off the patch of grass he had woken on. Exposing himself instantly roused attention. Heads turned to stare, several faces bearing disapproving frowns. It was almost like his childhood again. With a tailed demon sealed within him, Naruto hadn't been the most popular child in the village.

A swell of familiarity blossomed in his chest. Naruto never thought he would see the day when he would be elated at being despised. If they knew him as a demon container, he couldn't be far from Konoha, right?

Then an elderly man walked up to him. "No performance, hmm? Ah, no matter. Here, boy." Before Naruto could understand what he was doing, the man tipped a couple of coins in his hand.

The blonde blinked in confusion, simply staring at the coins. "Hey, gramps, wait a minute!" he called after the old man. He had to jog a little to catch up with him. "What are these for? They're not mine." The copper pieces clinked together as he held them out for the man to take back.

His words seemed to surprise the man. "Well, aren't you a strange one?" he chuckled. "I've never seen a drifter refusing money before."

A drifter? That was what Jiraiya called the homeless people huddled on the streets. "I'm not a beggar," Naruto said. If he wasn't in such a situation he would have laughed. What had given the guy the impression that he was a beggar?

"No?" The man shook his head. "Come on, lad, there's no need to be modest. There's a charity store someplace around here, I think. They'll fix you up with some new clothes if you go there."

Clothes? Naruto looked down at his attire. "I don't need-" His voice broke off as his mind struggled to make sense of the rags hanging from his body. His trousers had been torn away from below the knee and when he raised his arm he saw that his shirt was barely holding together. It was like he had come out the short end of a horrific fight. No wonder they were staring.

Well. Shit.

The old man had already left. Naruto approached a man in a dark suit walking his way. "Hey, do you know where Kono…" He didn't even get to finish his question. The man shook his head dismissively and walked past with barely a glance. Like others Naruto had seen, he was holding a radio-thing to his ear.

Frowning, Naruto tried to stop another person. He tried three; the first was a kid, maybe a couple of years younger than him, who was no help at all; the second ignored him; the third cocked an eyebrow and asked him if he was off his rocker.

In any other situation Naruto wouldn't have minded the lack of response. He was used to people being rude and ignorant, especially toward him. But he felt like he was being driven to a corner with his survival rate dropping with each failure. It was making him edgy. This couldn't possibly be the Leaf Village. He had no idea where he was and no recollection of how he had gotten there in the first place.

And he was starting to draw attention. A loosely assembled crowd began to gather around him. They obviously didn't come across people like him very often. They were stopping, their gazes lingering. Some were muttering but when Naruto spun around they met him with uniform stares.

It was driving him mad.

"Pain, you bastard," Naruto hissed under his breath. No one else but Orochimaru would try something like this, and the slimy freak was dead. Genjutsu – it had to be. His chakra had been sealed so he would be unable to unravel it. It was the only logical explanation.

Then he remembered. Scraps of reminiscence pieced together, and Naruto's eyes widened. Pain. Akatsuki. It was starting to come back to him.

Jiraiya had been leading a special operations squad to infiltrate Amegakure – a squad he had been part of. Naruto's memories tapered and faded from there, but he could fill in the blanks. He remembered clashing with Pain. He didn't need to know the rest to conclude that the mission had gone badly.

Questions arose faster than he was ready to face them. Had he won or lost? What about Jiraiya and the others? And more importantly; what the hell had happened?

He reeled back, breaking through the ring of spectators. They stared after him. Someone grabbed his arm to steady him. It was the man with the dog from earlier. "Hey, you okay? You look-"

Naruto lunged at him, seizing his shoulders. "Where is this place?" he asked hoarsely.

"C-Central Park." The response was useless to him. It was taking all his control not to shake the man to kingdom come. He needed a solid answer, damn it!

"Which country? This isn't Fire Country, is it?" He could hear the desperation in his own voice, the desire to _know something._ "Which village is this?"

The man's brow creased. "What are you on about? Are you sure..."

Naruto didn't hear any more. Two years of warfare had hardened him but with his orientation thrown off to such a degree, the odds seemed to be against him. Pain must have done something to him. The question was _what_. He had too many questions and no answers.

He was tempted to smash his fist into the nearest person's face to see their reaction. If they were Akatsuki they would retaliate and his doubts would instantly be cleared. Except they looked so _human_. There was a mother with a child in a pram not ten feet away from him. If only it was a genjutsu or henge that took form in the shape of his friends – he would have been able to see through that in an instant. There were so many if onlys. If only he knew what was going on.

Thinking from another view, if they _were_ Akatsuki under the guise of innocents, it was wiser to let them believe that he was fooled. His chakra was unresponsive and against opponents that significantly outnumbered him, taijutsu was not the way to go. He would do himself more harm than good.

So Naruto did the only rational thing that he could see of the situation. He ran. He had no idea where he was going, but the park looked pretty extensive. There had to be a place for him to escape from the prying eyes.

Shouts followed him and he thought he heard some footfalls – but he was still faster than them. His legs felt heavy and he almost lumbered straight into another person, but even with the handicap he was _much_ faster than them. Naruto didn't even have to look back. They were so sluggish it was almost wrong. Were they even _trying?_ Even Ayame from Ichiraku's would be able to outrun them – hell, even her father would have fared better.

Sprinting through hedges of neatly cropped lawns and keeping well away from contact with the other humans, Naruto discovered that his earlier speculation of the park's range had been rather erroneous. He had already reached the other end and quickly backtracked as he came to the road. No way was he going near those wheeled beasts. They looked even more intimidating in close proximity.

There was no one following him; he had either left them behind or they had given up. Either way his initiative hadn't changed. If he was right and Akatsuki was behind this there was no doubt that they would catch him flat-footed in his current state.

There was a small structure tucked away to the side. Naruto had missed it at first but now he set off at a jog toward it. The sight of it was enough to placate him, if only a little. He liked being the centre of attention, but not _that_ much. There were two entrances. Choosing the one closest to him, Naruto slipped inside with all too much gratefulness.

He stopped. "You are kidding me," he deadpanned.

Of all the possibilities, Uzumaki Naruto had stumbled across a toilet.

He traced his steps back and poked his head outside. Seeing a plastic plate bearing the distinct male insignia, he dubiously went back inside.

Better than nothing.

There were two cubicles. One of them was closed, and judging from the rustling of toilet paper, it was occupied. Naruto locked himself in the remaining one. He sat on the closed lid of the toilet, cradling his head in his hands.

It was tactical to put together what he had. Putting aside his assumption that Pain had schemed this behind his back, it was safe to assume that he was not in Konoha – or anywhere near Fire Country, at that. He hadn't seen a single forehead protector so far and the chakra presences he could sense were so vague that he wouldn't even have noticed them if he was paying any less attention. The average Leaf civilian had twice as much chakra reserves as these people.

The sound of water flushing diverted Naruto's thought direction to Pain. His mind was clearer now, and he started to question what the leader of Akatsuki could have gained by thrusting him into such a situation. Their only association was through the Kyuubi. Akatsuki's first priority would be to seal the demon, more so since it was the only tailed beast they had not yet captured. There was no point putting him through this, whatever it was.

Reluctantly, Naruto's certainty in his expected foes wavered. He always felt better when he had someone to blame.

_So if it's not Pain... _

Naruto's head jerked up as a heavy fist pounded on the door. His hand immediately reached for a kunai, only to find that his weapons pouch was missing. He hadn't noticed the absence until now. It did not come along as particularly surprising if he accounted the state of his clothes. Without weapons and chakra, Naruto felt bare and naked. Quite literally.

"Oi, you gonna get out of there any time soon?" a gruff voice demanded.

"What?" He lowered himself into a slight crouch, prepared to barrel into the door and knock down whoever was on the other side.

"Don't 'what' me – I want to use the damn toilet!" Naruto blinked at this. He had been cogitating so deeply on the foreign environment beyond his refuge that it had slipped his mind that the 'refuge' was in fact 'the damn toilet'.

_Like hell I'm getting out of here._ "Use the other one!"

"There's no toilet paper!"

Naruto reached for the dispenser to shoo off the troublesome guy, and then thought better of it. Frustration had left him in a somewhat foul mood and he had yet to hear a sincere 'please'. "Use the urinal then!" he snapped.

The man obviously didn't want to do that. Naruto responded with his own arsenal of profanities. It felt good to blow off some steam. He was almost sorry when the man grunted one last insult and shuffled out. If he hadn't been so boorish Naruto might have cooperated.

As long as he refused to vacate the cubicle, everyone had to use the urinal. From what Naruto remembered, there was only one. A few other men came seeking the first's objective but were less outspoken about it; some didn't even bother asking at all. Naruto snickered half-heartedly. It was the sort of thing he would do on purpose in his Academy days. Iruka had chased him off his extravagant ideals so many times that the blonde was sure the man could predict where his next 'masterpiece' would turn up.

_Iruka-sensei..._ A fond memory of eating at Ichiraku's with his former Academy teacher tugged the corners of Naruto's mouth into a nostalgic smile. His eyes glistened as he reminded himself that Iruka would never lecture him, never take him out for ramen again. If only he'd known that he would be carving his precious person's name onto the Cenotaph, Naruto would have treated Iruka to ten bowls of ramen – or better, would have returned to the village in time to save him, and the others that had lost their lives during that particular raid.

There was no sense of time inside the cubicle. Naruto was not one to sit down and think. He was still far from that habit. However, with nothing better to do, he eventually found himself sinking into a meditative state. He had no inkling of where he was, how he had gotten there and absolutely no idea what to do next. He attempted to analyse the situation and think ahead. As usual, his mind wandered... and Naruto reminisced.

No one could say that he had lived a sheltered life. A shinobi's life was already cluttered with risks and pitifully low survival rates, and coupled with an uncooperative demon... Naruto had to congratulate himself for even being alive. The war had changed his view on matters. Life became rough for everyone, not just him. He had seen friends and strangers alike return broken or in body bags; the unlucky ones didn't even have anything left of them to bring back.

Naruto was surprised he was even sane.

Illegible graffiti was scrawled on the door. Did the people who had written them ever return to the very same cubicle to read them again? They probably didn't. Naruto himself had dabbled with graffiti before; he wrote things on the spur of the moment, just to get it out of his system.

But the thing was, he had left the village countless times with the knowledge that he was heading straight into battle. He had been in the same state of mind as his comrades, and yet on more than one occasion, he had been one of the few to return. He had gone on so many perilous infiltrations and for some miraculous reason, he had survived each and every one of them.

Kakashi had said that Uzumaki Naruto would grow to be strong, eventually surpassing Konoha's history of great shinobi.

_Of course!_ Naruto remembered boasting. _I'll have to be strong to be Hokage, right? You'd better believe it_.

His silver-haired mentor had given him that one-eyed smile and absently flipped another page of his little orange book.

Naruto could clearly remember what he had added after that: _And I'll protect all of my precious people, you'll see. One day you'll be taking me to Ichiraku's for saving your life, Kakashi-sensei!_

Right. How much of that had he actually fulfilled?

He wasn't the Hokage, he hadn't been able to protect _all_ of his precious people, and he realised now that he had never once shared a private meal with Kakashi Hatake at Ichiraku's.

It was strange, Naruto thought sullenly to himself. Kakashi had been a commendably experienced and skilful jounin. He had been an ANBU captain previously, and even Kage carefully reconsidered their moves after hearing of his involvement. Kakashi had survived more missions that Naruto and Sasuke combined, and at the time of his death he had been a superior ninja to his knuckleheaded student.

Although he had undeniably grown and matured in more ways than one, Naruto could not help but wonder how it was humanly possible that he was still alive and considerably well. A good ninja survived, of course, but he had taken his time climbing his way up to become a 'good ninja'. Even when he had been stumbling around, green with inexperience, he had survived. He had survived when his betters had been picked off.

He was hardier, that he was. The Kyuubi was a formidable force that, for all his guts, Naruto would think ten times over before challenging. It did not automatically disqualify him from the game of death, though. He had teetered on the brink of death more times than he found comfortable.

Maybe he just had better luck.

So, luck must have landed him in this situation.

Naruto felt about ready to leave his little cubicle. He'd had time to think, however sidetracked he had ended up, and after isolating the different factors to the circumstances he had come to the conclusion that he had nothing to lose. From what he could see, Akatsuki probably did not have much to do with it, and even if they had planned this, they had left him with a major advantage: he was alive. He needed to find his way back to Konoha and he couldn't do that very well locked up in a toilet block.

He wisely decided to relieve himself before stepping out of the cubicle. His legs were a little cramped so he did some quick stretches to loosen up the knotted muscles. He must have been in there longer than he had thought. At least it wasn't bad milk this time.

Looking into the wall mirror, Naruto could see how haggard he looked. His face looked grimy but the flakes that crumbled away when his finger touched the spots told him that it was dried blood, caked to his skin. His clothes bore similar stains; the blood had seeped into the material and taken on a dirty shade. The untrained eye wouldn't have discerned it as the life-giving liquid.

_I guess I was in a pretty tight spot then,_ he reflected. It made him all the more fraught to know the outcome of the mission Jiraiya had led.

It had become a practice for Naruto to scrub the blood and sweat from his body each time he returned from a taxing mission. He did not like the residue clinging to him. He turned on the tap and splashed his face, rinsing it until his skin was pink and his cheeks flushed. The people he had come across earlier must have mistaken it for dirt; he doubted they were the sort of people who had witnessed enough blood to become impartial to it. They looked too... soft.

There was nothing he could do about his clothes. Naruto made slight adjustment to the garments; he tore off the flapping sleeves of his shirt and got rid of the loose thread dangling from the legs of the pants. He could barely recognise the scraps of fabric as his own anymore.

He had already checked himself for wounds. There were a couple of scrapes along his arms and across his knees but no sign of any injury that could have spilt as much blood as his clothes indicated. The fox must have dealt with it, though that left Naruto wondering why it had not healed the minor blemishes as well. _Lazy furball_.

The sky was a startling collage of orange when he stepped outside. The light seemed to shine right into his eyes and Naruto reflexively threw up a hand to shield his face. It must be evening. He remembered it had been around midday when he had woken up. The park was noticeably quieter, though he saw several people walking past across the road. No sign of Akatsuki or anything remotely suspicious.

The road itself was unoccupied. In fact, there were none of the metallic machines Naruto had seen earlier passing by. Thinking of the strange things made the blonde teenager's brow furrow. They were like nothing he had seen before. They were definitely some sort of machine. The wheeled structure resembled horse-drawn carts, but Naruto hadn't seen a horse or any animal pulling the vehicles along. The human sitting inside was probably controlling them. He must be in a very advanced country. Maybe Jiraiya knew about them since he travelled so much. He'd ask the old pervert next time.

Naruto gingerly stepped off the grass lawn of the park and onto the road, sliding between two of the parked machines. He took a moment to run a hand along the surface of one of them; some sort of metal, no doubt about it. Peering in from one of the windows, he could see seats. They really were like carts – just different. Like this place and Konoha.

_Konoha... right, I need to get home. _

He sprinted across, seeing that the road was empty. He half-expected to see one of the metal contraptions streaking toward him but he reached the other side in one piece. Naruto grinned for the first time since his... arrival. He could do this.

The air was... filthy, he noticed. The breaths he inhaled seemed to have a certain weight to them, unlike the crisp air in the Leaf Village. If he concentrated, Naruto could see traces of smog lazily drifting by. With not much space to circulate, it was no wonder. Buildings were tall and abundant. It was impossible to see mountains or any kind of natural scenery beyond the towering structures. It was a concrete jungle. What kind of place was this?

Naruto explored the block, cautiously at first, then relaxing his guard a little when reality failed to conjure an enemy wielding weapons of death. People passed by him, occasionally shooting him a curious look, though Naruto suspected that their attention was drawn more toward the state of his clothing than anything else.

It was hard to restrain his curiosity. There were more shops and restaurants situated in buildings than the stands set up by the side of the road he had grown up with. It was also daunting how, where Konoha's streets streamed with constant activity, the streets here were split in half by the road that the unknown vehicles travelled by.

Hands down, it was the strangest place Naruto had ever been to.

He walked around, scrutinising new things, until he had circled the block twice. Roads intersected at every corner, branching off into the unknown. By now, Naruto was more curious than anything, and he didn't think twice before he decided to cross another road. He wasn't going to waste his time walking around in circles.

Curiosity killed the cat.

A shrill sound shrieked into his ears, almost identical to the one he had heard previously. Jumped, turned his head in shock. The sun was setting directly behind whatever was roaring toward him; it blinded him. Staggered back, tried to roll out of the way. Tripped.

"Crap!"

Something screeched. Smoke billowed out from nowhere, tasting acrid in Naruto's mouth. He coughed and sputtered. From the same 'nowhere', something hard and solid collided with his head. It was little more than a tap and his forehead protector had absorbed most of the damage, but it was enough to knock him flat on his back. The back of head cracked painfully against the asphalt.

_Ow, _Naruto thought dully.

Groaning, he levered himself up on an elbow, the other hand holding his head. He was seeing black spots. He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head lightly. When he opened them again, there was a pair of polished shoes – not sandals, he noticed hazily – by his side.

His misgivings instinctively kicked into gear when a hand dropped on his shoulder. He flinched away, a low growl erupting from his throat. A figure swam into view as he focused his gaze. Naruto shook his head again, ignoring the burst of pain that flashed by as a result. He made out the face of a man. Dark hair, stubble on his chin, calculating eyes.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded. The world had stopping spinning by now – but damn, his head was killing him.

"The guy who almost ran you over," an unfamiliar voice said dryly. "You came out of nowhere and you were moving so fast... I wouldn't shake my head like that if I were you; you might have concussion."

"I'm fine." Something warm trickled thickly down Naruto's arm. He looked down at it. Blood. He must have scraped a layer of skin off in the fall. "Damn it," he muttered.

There was a pause, and then the man spoke again. "I think I should take you to the hospital."

"I'm _fine_. I don't want to go to the hospital." As if being stuck in the middle of nowhere wasn't bad enough. He wasn't going to let anyone take him anywhere. His knee bumped into something when he tried to get to his feet. Naruto stared. He hadn't noticed that he had come so... close.

"You might want to get out of there." The man saw what he was looking at.

Numbly, Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I do." His lower body was pinned under a portion of the metallic vehicle that the man had driven. He could see now that four wheels were all that held it up. His limbs would have been crushed if any of them had rolled over him. Sitting up, his eyes were level with a plate on the vehicle bearing numbers and letters.

"You fell down at the last moment, didn't you?" the man asked.

Naruto nodded. He'd tripped. If he hadn't he might have been able to get out of the way in time.

"That probably saved your life. I would have hit you if you hadn't gone down."

Naruto doubted those words. He didn't think he would be killed that easily. He had been through harder collisions. The man was probably over-exaggerating.

He started sliding backward, dragging himself out. He was almost bewildered that his legs were well and functional. "Man, that was close."

"Here." He was offered a hand. Naruto accepted the help without second thought, realising only after he was straightening that he had trusted a stranger too easily. Jiraiya always told him that he was naive. He would have to keep that in mind.

Now that he was standing, Naruto saw that the man was not much taller than him. His eyes were calm despite the circumstances. They silently inspect him, appraising the steadiness at which he stood. This was a man who could keep his head on in exigent situations.

He noticed the blood on Naruto's arm. "I'll drive you to the hospital."

_Not again._ "I don't need the hospital," Naruto insisted. It wasn't much of an injury. "But you should watch where you're going, mister. That thing," he jerked his head toward the machine that could have been the death of him, "could really get someone hurt, you know."

The man opened his mouth but before he could say anything, another voice spoke up. "Do you want me to call an ambulance? He looks like he needs to get to the hospital."

Naruto hadn't noticed, but their little commotion had once again caught the attention of the public. There were more people looking in than walking past.

The word 'ambulance' did not ring any bells, but 'hospital' did. Why did they persist on admitting him to the hospital? "No, it's alright," he tried to tell them.

The woman who had spoken didn't seem to think so. The man standing beside Naruto gave him a long look, and then raised his voice. "There's no need to call an ambulance. I'm a doctor. I'll take care of him."

"Ne, I don't need-"

"I think I'm qualified to tell the difference between what you need and what you want, kid." There was a certain ring of authority to the man's low voice. It seemed he was the doctor he claimed to be. He tugged Naruto's elbow. "Come on, I'll drive you somewhere I can fix you up."

Naruto was tempted to protest. Again. He started to, in fact, but he wasn't stupid. He could see when saying no would not get either of them what they wanted and he could recognise a guy who always got his way in the end.

The man was leading him toward the wheeled machine, rumbling where it stood. He pulled open a side door. Naruto faltered. "Wait a minute," he blurted. "I don't want to get inside that thing."

An eyebrow arched. "Why not?"

_Why? He has to ask _why? Though he himself had trouble coming up with a legitimate response. "I just... don't like it."

His excuse was lame and they both knew it. "Get in the car, kid. Be quick about it; we're holding up traffic."

Indeed, there was a train of vehicles waiting behind them. The impatient ones rounded around the site and drove on. But Naruto wasn't interested in that. "Car? Is that what they're called?"

The man looked at him for a moment, his eyes once again pensive. Naruto did not like the way he seemed to see through many things at once, as if he would eventually figure out _exactly _what was going on. For once, the blonde shinobi was right.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

Naruto shrugged. Just his luck to run into a smart guy. If he suspected anyone from Akatsuki here, it would be this man. He was a little like Kakashi.

He didn't like the idea of getting inside the 'car'. He had almost been squashed by one. Except the man did not look like he was going to move if he didn't. Naruto considered turning around and running off. He didn't need a doctor to look at him – the Kyuubi was as medically qualified as any doctor. On the other hand, that would make him suspicious. He still did not know what was going on. It probably would not be wise to draw attention to himself. Attention came hand in hand with trouble. Uzumaki Naruto would know.

So he ducked his head and climbed into the 'car'. The seat was surprisingly comfortable, and the interior of the machine looked even more bizarre than the exterior. What looked like a leaf, but wasn't quite a leaf, dangled from some sort of mirror attached to the roof. Naruto blinked at it. Curiously, he poked it with a finger. Nope, definitely not a leaf. His nose told him it smelt like aloe vera. It took him several moments to realise that it was an air freshener similar to the one Tsunade had had in her office... just in a flat sort of shape.

His inquisitiveness seemed to amuse the man. Naruto heard a chuckle before the door slammed shut. A jolt of adrenaline raced through his veins before he calmed himself. _Relax,_ he told himself. He hadn't been this suspicious of other people when he had been younger. Growing up was not as cool as he had thought it would be, and Jiraiya had said he was growing up too fast. What he meant by that, Naruto didn't have much of an idea.

A door opened on the other side and the man lowered himself inside. There was a wheel, much smaller and more compact than the ones that supported the 'car', positioned in front of him. He grasped it, pulled back a lever that was built between his seat and Naruto's – and they started to move forward.

"Whoa." Naruto looked out the wide window at the front, then out the one next to him. It was a smooth sort of motion, not much faster than his average speed if he leapt through the trees, but it was something new to him. He was moving without even doing anything.

They sped up a little. As they came to a corner, the man turned the wheel in front of him and the 'car' rounded the corner smoothly. More vehicles drove by in an adjacent lane. Naruto found himself with a grin on his face. "Hey, this is pretty cool," he said. He turned back to the man. "Can we go any faster?"

"No, I'm at the speed limit already," came the disappointing reply.

"That's it?" It was hard to believe that he had almost been unable to evade something of this speed. He bet he could throw a kunai and it would travel faster than this. Which reminded him...

"Aren't you going to apologise for almost making me 2D?" he frowned.

They had stopped in the middle of the road as other cars cut across them. The man leaned across, reaching over to open a compartment in front of Naruto. He pulled out a paper towel. "Hold that against your wound."

Naruto had no idea what he was talking about. Until he remembered his arm. The fresh injury did not seem to have healed even the slightest bit. What was the fox doing?

"You still haven't said sorry yet," he reminded the man.

"You were the one who jumped out without looking, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't."

"... Right."

Naruto knew sarcasm when he heard it. He was taken aback by the man's response. He had not thought of the matter as his own fault. He had just been walking along – and the next thing he knew he was on the ground. He had been watching so carefully before... maybe he should have looked properly that time.

"Well, at least stop calling me 'kid'," he grumbled unhappily.

"I think I've only called you that twice, kid."

"That's three times!"

But the 'car' was moving again. The man obviously controlled where they went, and Naruto did not think that trying to argue with him at this point would do either of them any good.

His concern was unneeded. His companion seemed perfectly alright with multi-tasking. "What's your name?" he asked as they turned into another street. There were a lot of roads and streets, Naruto noticed.

"Me? I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Again, he had to berate himself for giving out his details so easily. Perhaps it was his nature to be open and accepting. It was hard to change who and what he was. It was not fair that their introductions were one-sided, so Naruto asked for the man's name in return.

"Kazuo Haruno."

"Kazuo, huh? Sounds cool."

"Don't get into the habit of calling me that."

Naruto turned to look at him. "Why not, Kazuo?" he asked.

He thought he saw a flash of annoyance flicker on Kazuo Haruno's features. The blonde experienced an unexpected taste of triumph. "Because," the man answered, "I am older then you and therefore your senior. You should address me as 'Mr Haruno'_._"

Naruto took a moment to think about it. "Nah, I like Kazuo better."

There was silence for a couple of minutes. "Have it your way, _kid_," the older man said.

"I told you, quit calling me a kid. You know my name, why don't you use it?" He was getting ridiculously worked up about this. Since the war, he had commanded men who were twice his age. He was not used to the sudden change back to teenager status.

"Well, you know _my_ name. Why don't you use it?"

"I _am_ using it."

"My _preferred_ name." Who knew the seemingly cool-headed man could be so annoying? In fact, Kazuo seemed to get more and more light-hearted as time wore on – and it had only been ten minutes since their acquaintance.

Naruto made up his mind. "Hey, Kazuo, I really don't need you to patch me up. You can let me off around here."

"I'm not going to do that."

"What?"

They had stopped again for the other cars. "It's my responsibility to see that you're alright, since I was the one who almost 'made you 2D'." Damn, the guy had good memory.

Naruto ran his hands along the door, trying to figure out how to open it. "I _am_ alright. Come on, let me off already."

But Kazuo just moved the car forward.

"Hey!"

"Naruto." It was the first time the man had used his name. "Wouldn't any doctor want to know why a kid was running around with blood all over his clothes?"

It was enough to make Naruto stiffen. For a ninja like him, blood-spattered clothes were the norm, so he could not understand why the fact that Kazuo Haruno had been able to discern the dark stains was startling to him. Perhaps it was the obliviousness that he had received from the general public. The blood was so dried up that it was almost unrecognisable. But Kazuo Haruno could tell.

Another conclusion came to him almost as soon as the initial alarm dissipated. Naruto was surprised at the rate his mind was churning. He had never fashioned himself as a thinker. Akatsuki would know where and how he had gotten the bloodstains. Kazuo seemed to be genuinely interested. The possibility of Akatsuki's involvement was quickly becoming diluted.

"Kid."

Naruto snapped to attention. "Huh? Did you say something, Kazuo?"

"I asked you if you were in a fight."

"Oh." The strength seemed to drain from him all at once as he reclined into the cushioned seat. "Yeah, I guess I was."

"What sort of fight?" Kazuo questioned.

"Dunno. I can't remember." He wished he could. He was so... confused. "Kazuo?" He received a grunt so he proceeded to ask, "Where are we going?"

The answer was one-worded and unbelievably significant to Naruto. "Home."

His eyes widened, hopes lifting. "Really? You know where I live?"

"No." Kazuo imperceptibly rolled his eyes. "_My_ home."

"Oh," Naruto said again, sinking back into his seat.

"Have you got a problem with that, kid?"

His sense of anxiety was slipping away, revealing the tired teenager that he was. "Not really... but why?"

"I'm a doctor." That was all the reasoning Kazuo gave. Apparently, he expected it to be enough. Naruto chose not to press the issue. As long as there was no danger, he was quite alright with a stranger taking him home. If Kazuo proved to be untrustworthy, Naruto was more than capable of taking care of himself even in this state.

There seemed to be a radio in the car. It wasn't playing any of the channels Naruto usually had his set on. Classical music was not his cup of tea, either, but it was slow and soft, and he gradually let it lull him to sleep.

His slumber was uneasy. A frown carved into his brow and he thought he muttered a little, though he was not certain what slipped past his lips. He was almost grateful when he was shaken awake by Kazuo. It felt like he had only been asleep for seconds.

"We're here, kid. Out you get. Keep pressure on that arm... weren't you wearing a seatbelt?" The instructions came and he obliged with a bleary mind, moving robotically.

"A... what?" Naruto heard himself mumble.

He hadn't realised he was so tired. Chakra deprivation was nastier than he remembered. Thankfully, he did not have to walk much; Kazuo had stopped directly outside a house. Naruto observed it as the fog cleared from his head. It was a modest-looking building with two storeys and pale bricks. He could already guess that it would be larger than his apartment.

It was. As Kazuo let them in, Naruto's eyes swept over the spacious lounge and furnishings. One side was cut off by a counter, reserving space for a kitchen. A dining table stood behind a set of couches, a glass coffee table placed in front of the said couches.

Kazuo directed him to the couch. "Sit down."

Naruto lifted the paper towel from his arm as he took his seat. It hadn't bled a lot. Kazuo did not seem to care. He took out a white box from a cupboard and slid it onto the coffee table; a first aid kit. Naruto could not help but pull a face at the gloves that he pulled on. "It's just a scratch," he told him.

"Don't tell a doctor what to do, kid."

Kazuo got down to work. After a while Naruto tried to make conversation, finding the silence awkward. "Do you always pick up people off the side of the road and take them home?" he asked the man.

"Well, look at it this way," Kazuo replied, dabbing at the wound with a towel that he had gotten up to wet earlier. "Do you always cross the road without looking?"

Naruto scowled. "Hey, you don't need to rub it in, you know."

"What, this ointment? It's antibiotic; it's good for you."

"Not that!"

"What, then?"

Naruto sighed in exasperation. "You're really frustrating," he shot at Kazuo after a pause.

The man gave a small smile. "That's good news for me."

"Why you-" He stopped when he heard a scuffling sound from upstairs.

"Dad? Who are you talking to?" a feminine voice called down.

Naruto looked at Kazuo. "Who's that?"

"My husband."

"... Your _what?"_

He received a pointed look in return. "What do you call your father, kid?"

Naruto lowered his eyes. "Nothing," he murmured. He could feel Kazuo's eyes on him. The man never seemed to miss anything. He was grateful when no questions arrived to pry at his parentage.

"Dad?" the voice asked again, having heard no reply.

"Come down and meet someone, Sakura," Kazuo called up, tilting his head back. "I picked up some takeout for dinner, too."

"Mou, you said you were going to cook tonight." The voice didn't sound too upset and it sounded much closer now.

Kazuo applied tape to hold the layer of bandages together. He had worked so quickly and efficiently that Naruto had barely noticed the process. Kazuo was a little like Shizune in that matter; he talked and bantered to distract his patients.

"So who's this someone you brought home, Dad?"

Naruto turned his head. A slim girl was standing at the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the rail. She appeared to be around his age. Her pink hair interested him but his attention was drawn to the shorts that she wore. Or rather, the skin it revealed. He couldn't help it – they were the first things he saw. He did have his shame, though, and turned away quickly, face reddening. He had been spending too much time around Jiraiya, no doubt about it. Except he wasn't a-

"Dad! He's a pervert!"

Busted.

He groaned. Cringing, he raised his head and tried to explain. Tried to. Not many words came out when he saw the amount of indignant fury blazing in the emerald eyes that glared at him. He recoiled. "H-Hi," Naruto grinned weakly.

Kazuo's daughter frowned down at him. "Who is he?" The question was directed at her father, thick with accusation. The message: _You'd better have a good reason for putting your daughter's dignity at risk._

"A kid I almost ran over," Kazuo said. He packed away the first aid kit. "I thought I'd take him home and fix him up."

"I thought you were a better driver than that." Sakura had not looked away. It took most of Naruto's willpower to hold up her gaze. It was ridiculous – he was more afraid of a girl with pink hair than a missing-nin. Like her father, Haruno Sakura did not seem to have much trouble dealing with random strangers. Or holding a grudge against them.

It was Kazuo who rescued him. "Sakura, I left dinner in the car. Would you mind getting it for me? It's in the back seat."

Sakura caught the keys he tossed her with unnerving fluidity, especially since she was still occupied giving Naruto a dirty look that unquestionably discouraged him from laying eyes on anywhere... inappropriate. The blonde sat rigidly until the girl had disappeared out the front door.

"Freaky," he whispered shakily, as if afraid she could still hear him.

"Some advice, kid? Don't peek at my daughter. It's for your own safety," Kazuo suggested. He did not seem bothered by the conflict that had instantly sparked between the two teenagers.

"You're telling me this now." Like Sakura, Naruto was keen to place the blame on the adult.

Kazuo's tone changed, becoming business-like. "I think you're about ready to go home now. Do you have family I can call to pick you up?"

Unsure how to reply, Naruto just shook his head.

The man's eyes narrowed slightly. "Where were you staying?"

"Nowhere." Naruto saw an opportunity. "Where are we, anyway? How far are we from Fire Country?"

Kazuo regarded him. "Fire Country?" he repeated.

"Yeah. You must know Fire Country. It's one of the Five Great Nations..." Naruto's voice got quieter until it trailed off completely. He knew that look in Kazuo's eyes. He had seen it at the park. It was the look of someone who had no idea what he was talking about.

"Kid?"

"Yeah?"

"I think you're lost."

The door opened again and Sakura stepped inside, peering inside a plastic bag. "What did you get, Dad? It looks like noodles to me," she said.

Naruto knew the answer the moment she opened the lid of one of the containers. The heavenly scent escaped into the air, lingering. It was torturous. It was-

"Ramen," Kazuo answered.

Naruto's stomach growled.

Sakura stared. "What was _that_?"

He swallowed meekly. "Me." _Ramen... ramen..._

"You're hungry, aren't you, kid? I guess I did buy extra for breakfast tomorrow..."

He couldn't even remember the last time he had eaten. It was time to practice his puppy-dog eyes.

Sakura caught on quickly. "Is he staying for dinner as well?" She obviously disapproved.

"What can I say, Sakura? Your father is a charitable man."

His presence made the meal a little uncomfortable but Naruto was too immersed in his food to care or do much about it. His loyalty toward Ichiraku's had not dithered one bit. The beef ramen Kazuo had handed him was not quite well-done as Ichiraku's, the broth a notch below Naruto's usual standard. He dug in anyway. He was ravenous.

At one point, he swallowed too quickly and choked. A hand thumped his back, unexpectedly hard. "Slow down," Sakura scolded.

He coughed, raising a hand. "I-I'm okay. I'm – gack – okay."

Then Kazuo seemed to remember something. "That's right; you don't know each other yet, do you?" He didn't want for the negatives. "Kid, this is my daughter Sakura. Sakura, this is Uzumaki Naruto, our new roommate tonight."

"Huh, you remembered my na – wait, WHAT?" He was not alone in the last exclamation. Sakura was staring at her father in dismay, mouth dropping open.

Kazuo continued eating, unperturbed. "You have nowhere to go, right, kid? You can take the couch tonight. We'll figure something out tomorrow."

As much as Naruto was thankful for offer, he was also impressed by Kazuo's swift decision-making. Even _he_ wasn't certain he wanted to stay in a stranger's house for a night.

"Err, Kazuo, are you sure-"

"Dad, do you know what you're-"

Both Naruto and Sakura stopped to look at each other. "You first," Naruto offered. Sakura nodded, the only approval she had given him so far.

"Dad, we hardly know him," she objected. Naruto was not wounded by her words – it was true, after all. He was a fairly... easy-going person, but even he would think twice before inviting an outsider to stay at his place.

"I don't know half the people I save the lives of, Sakura. The kid is lost. What do you expect me to do? If you really want, we can just kick him out and leave him there in the cold."

Naruto was fully prepared for Sakura's affirmation of her father's suggestion, so he almost fell off his chair when she scowled at her father. "You play dirty," she accused.

Kazuo had finished his noodles by now and he faced the teenagers with an even expression on his face. "Besides, I let Ken stay over, didn't I?"

His reminder made Sakura flush. "Dad!" she hissed, throwing a side glance at Naruto. The latter was confused by her reaction. He didn't have much time to think about it, though.

"What about you, Naruto?" Kazuo asked him. "Do you want to stay over for the night? The couch should be big enough for you."

He was glad that Sakura was too busy controlling her blush; her heavy gaze would probably make him choke on his own saliva. "Well, I don't really mind," he shrugged, choosing his words carefully. "But, you know, like she said, I don't really know you guys."

Sakura seemed a little taken aback by his response. Naruto realised that he had undoubtedly given her a very bad first impression that was far removed from his actual characteristics. She probably thought he was a good for nothing, greedy, perverted jerk.

Kazuo picked up their bowls and deposited them in the sink. "It doesn't really matter, does it? You're welcome to sleep outside if it'll make you feel better."

"Uh, no, I'm fine," Naruto said quickly.

"Kids these days are so modest," Kazuo sighed. His daughter gave a disbelieving snort. "Right, I'm going to take a shower. You can take one too, kid. Actually," he said, reviewing his guest's dishevelled appearance, "you _have_ to take one if you're going to be sleeping on our couch. We'll fix you up with some clothes as well. Oh, and make sure you don't get your arm wet."

"What did you do, anyway? Fall off a cliff?" Sakura asked after her father had gone upstairs. "You really need some new clothes."

Naruto grimaced. The cloth was scratchy and worn thin with dozens of torn patches. "Can't remember what I did, but these really suck. I got mistaken for a beggar earlier," he said, remembering the old man.

"Not really a surprise." Sakura hesitated. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Huh? What?"

"You're not a thief or anything like that, are you?"

He frowned. Fair enough that she should think so, but he was still a little offended. He was the guy who beat up the bad guys, not the other way around. "I won't steal anything. Promise," he assured her. "I always keep my promises." That wasn't exactly true. He _tried_ to keep his promises. Too many of them had been broken lately.

Sakura seemed to believe him. Still, he could hear the unspoken words: _You'd better._

"Uh, you wouldn't mind if I sat outside for a bit, would you?" Naruto asked.

"You don't have to ask, you know." Sakura retorted. She went to the sink and started washing their utensils. This made Naruto feel a tad bit ungrateful, and he changed his mind.

"Let me do that." He took the sponge from her hand.

She seemed uncertain but eventually let him have his way. "Just leave them on the rack to dry," she murmured. "I'll... I'll find you some blankets."

"Thanks," he called after her. He thought he heard her muttering to herself as she followed her father upstairs, and he chuckled. Girls – he would never understand them.

It only took him a few minutes to complete his task. Naruto left everything on the rack as he had been told. Then, finding the front door, he stepped outside. He was met with a breeze of cool air. The sun had set while he had been with the Harunos. Stars decorated the inky sky.

The house lacked a porch so Naruto fashioned himself a seat from a brick ledge that surrounded a small patch of plants. He could see lights from tall buildings in the distance. He had seen quite a few buildings that were taller than the Hokage Tower. Several cars passed by, installed lights shining.

He was lucky to have run into Kazuo, he reflected. He actually had not even considered accommodation until now. He had been hell-bent on finding his way back to Konoha, completely overlooking the necessary details. That had been very... well, stupid of him, he supposed. Naruto was often told that he had to think before he acted.

The Harunos were a weird family. Or perhaps their oddity was normal. Naruto wouldn't know. He did wonder about Sakura's mother. He hadn't met her and she had not been mentioned so far. Perhaps Kazuo had gone through a divorce with his wife. Though, Naruto did notice that there was not much... maternal touch to the house. Sakura's mother had probably passed away. He wasn't going to ask about it. He was hardly in a position to poke his nose into their family's business. He would probably leave the next day anyway.

Naruto sighed. He was going to have to think again. Having asked himself the same question over and over again, it was laughable that he still did not have an answer. What was he going to do?

Raising his hand and curling it into a loose fist, he could tell that his chakra had not returned. It was starting to worry him; usually he would have recovered at least a small fraction by this time. Coupled with his unhealed wounds, Naruto had to wonder if the Kyuubi had taken a sick leave or something.

Naruto's head came up very quickly.

Was that it? Had Kyuubi been sealed by Akatsuki while he had been unconscious? But that made no sense – he shouldn't be alive if that was the case. Gaara had been killed when the Shukaku had been extracted.

Well, he couldn't do anything about it if Kyuubi had been sealed. That only made returning to Konoha all the more prioritised. Pain would definitely start mobilising Akatsuki toward their 'world peace' campaign if they had all the tailed beasts. Even if he was wrong and Kyuubi was just being moody, Naruto still needed to find his way back.

It was easier said than done, though. He had to be unspeakably far from Konoha. There was no telling how long it would take him, and he had no idea which way to go. Not to mention that he was awfully vulnerable without chakra. He had hoped his reserves would replenish overnight but at this rate the likelihood was slim.

Would Kazuo let him stay until his chakra returned? He had been hospitable so far, but that man was a strange guy. Haruno Sakura was also misleading. Naruto's impressions of her swung back and forth like a pendulum; one second she was downright scary and the next she was strangely empathetic. Granny Tsunade had been like that, too.

Naruto closed his eyes mournfully. That had been another promise he hadn't been able to keep. He should not have vowed to protect so many people if it was beyond him. He felt like a liar. A big fat liar.

He sat outside for a while, allowing time to flow. He would most likely find himself back here later. It was a little discomfiting to be in the presence of a host he hardly knew. He hoped Sakura and her father did not have a habit of watching television late at night; he had seen a larger-than-normal television in the lounge. Like the radio in Kazuo's car, he doubted they broadcasted the same channels as his crappy, second-hand one back home.

Unfortunately, when he decided that it was time to go back inside, he was faced with a certain difficulty. Naruto wrenched at the knob, twisting and turning. He was afraid of tugging too hard and breaking it, and no one responded when he knocked.

He had locked himself out.

Reluctantly, he realised that he would have to try a window. After a quick round he discovered that the ones of the ground level were locked. Great. Naruto smacked his forehead. He was definitely an idiot, alright.

It was difficult to be certain from the ground, but it seemed the majority of windows on the second floor were closed as well... except one. It was around the side of the house. It seemed to belong to a room; he couldn't tell what was in it. It would have to be that one.

Normally, Naruto would have simply glued himself to the brick surface with chakra and walked up, but since he did not have that luxury... He backed up to the fence that cordoned the house from its neighbour's. His sandals were falling apart but could still serve their purpose. He did not fancy scaling the rough shell on bare feet.

Naruto took a running start and leapt upward. His fingers missed the ledge by millimetres. Falling back, he twisted so that he could use the top of the fence as leverage, and propelled himself up again. His limbs must have been weaker than he thought; he once again miscalculated his range, though this time he managed to grab onto the ledge. The air was knocked out of him as he slammed into the wall.

Grunting, he reached up to open the window a little further, and then hoisted himself into the room. His sandals landed on the floor much sooner than he had expected, however, and Naruto, his balance overthrown, almost fell backward out the way he had come. He steadied himself before he did, exhaling deeply.

"What the hell, Naruto?"

Naruto's head snapped around so quickly that he heard a faintly audible crack. "Gah! Sa – oh... whoa!" No amount of reflexes could rescue him this time, and he tumbled off the desk he had mistaken for the floor, landing in a crumpled heap on the real thing.

Sakura rolled off her bed and stalked over to him. She leaned over, hands on her hips. "What the hell, Naruto," she said again, her voice demanding.

He just groaned. _First the toilet... now _Sakura's _room._

"Did you just climb in through my _window_?"

"Ugh... yeah. Sorry, turns out the front door was locked," Naruto said sheepishly. He clambered to his feet, almost overbalancing. He felt strangely clumsy when he was around Sakura.

She was staring out her window, trying to understand something.

"Um... Sakura, you might fall if you lean out that far..."

"You just... from the ground? What are you – a gorilla?" She was dumbfounded, her eyes wide.

Naruto blinked as the picture of a furry replica of himself peeling a banana involuntarily offered itself to his imagination. "No, not a gorilla." He jabbed a thumb at his chest. "Me, I'm a ninja!"

Several seconds trickled by. Then Sakura moaned in despair. "Oh no, we have another one..." She shook her head, seeming to curse her father under her breath. She grimaced at Naruto. "Alright, which one are you? Leonardo? Raphael?"

He had long since learned that trying to understand something he couldn't would only get him in more trouble, so Naruto settled for the traditional, "Huh?"

"That's right, Naruto, you're not a turtle."

_What, so first I'm a gorilla and now I'm a... turtle?_ Maybe he hadn't established the point. "I'm a ninja." Naruto pointed at his forehead protector. "See? I'm a Leaf nin."

Confusion sparked in Sakura's eyes as she looked at the headband. Then she sighed. "Naruto." Her tone was suddenly patient and somewhat sympathetic, as if she was talking to a child. "You are not a ninja. There are no ninjas."

"Hey, look, I'm a-"

"Ninjas don't exist."

Naruto gawked at her, trying to decipher the now irritated expression Sakura wore. That had been a very bad joke. "What do you mean?" He was getting annoyed now. "Of course we exist. We're in the middle of a war right now. You can't make fun of that!"

His level of seriousness startled Sakura. "Naruto?" she asked uncertainly.

He caught himself before he could raise his voice any further. He muttered an apology, glaring at the ground. Slowly, his brow smoothed as the adrenaline fizzled out of his system. It wasn't a laughing matter. He was two hundred percent – one thousand percent if it had to be – confident that ninjas existed. He was one himself, damn it!

_But look at all those differences between this place and Konoha_, his cynical self pointed out. And there were many differences. One more would not have affected the number – but that one more was all the difference to Naruto. Of all the things that this place could lack... how could Sakura not even have _heard_ of shinobi? Had they not been affected by the war _at all?_

"Sakura?" His chest was heaving with heavy breaths. "You're... serious, aren't you? About there being no ninjas?"

She pursed her lips, then gave it to him. "Of course I am."

Naruto closed his eyes. _It's nothing big... maybe they don't need ninjas in this place... that's why Sakura doesn't know about them. It's okay. It's okay_. But he couldn't say the same for Konoha, even Fire Country. No one seemed to know them.

Sakura shuffled her feet. "Naruto, was being a ninja some sort of childhood dream of yours? Like being a policeman or something like that?" she asked tentatively.

He took a deep breath, making himself open his eyes and smile at her. "Sort of."

"You seem really upset about it."

"Just overreacting again... I do lots of stupid things, heh. Sorry about that, Sakura."

Silence stretched between them. Naruto searched for something to say – after all, this was his fault and it was good manners to resolve what he had begun. Except there was nothing he could say. Nothing he could figure out; nothing he could make any sense of.

Then Sakura started giggling.

Naruto tilted his head. "What's so funny?"

"N-Nothing!"

Despite the growing bleakness of his situation, Naruto could not resist grinning. "Aw, come on, tell me!"

Sakura controlled her giggles, her shoulders still shaking with laughter. Mirth swam in her eyes. It was the first time Naruto had seen her smile, and it struck him now that she was quite pretty. "I was just trying to imagine a ninja like you," she began, "wearing pink pyjamas."

His imagination once again supplied a creative image. Naruto snorted. "That would be pretty funny. And weird," he conceded. "You wanna try it out?" he suggested jokingly.

Now she stopped laughing. It was so abrupt that Naruto looked questioningly at her. She wasn't quite meeting his gaze. "Well, you're going to have to," she said apologetically.

"... Why?"

"Um, you see... Dad doesn't wear pyjamas."

"He goes to bed _naked?"_

"In his boxers," Sakura corrected. "And a singlet."

Naruto tried to rid himself of the disturbing image. "Okay, I can... deal with that. What's that got to do with me and pink pyjamas?"

"Not exactly _pink_," she mumbled.

"Sakuraaaaa."

"Okay, okay." She looked flustered. "Dad probably has some clothes that are close to your size, but he doesn't like the idea of you going to bed in jeans and a t-shirt, so..."

It took roughly ten seconds for Naruto to comprehend the meaning behind the unsaid words. His eyes bulged out in horror. "No way. No way." He flinched. "I-I can just stay in these clothes."

"No, you can't. They're filthy. We're throwing them out after your shower."

Naruto was frantically waving his hands in front of him. "I don't want to wear your pink pyjamas!"

"They're not pink, they're purple!"

He paused, considering. _Purple isn't _too_ bad..._

"... With love hearts on them," Sakura added.

Naruto blanched. "Ewwww!"

It was obviously equally uncomfortable for Sakura. "Hey, it's not like I want your... your... _that_ in my pants either!" she shouted back, blushing profusely.

"Oh God..." Naruto paled and turned around, pulling away the waistband of his ruined trousers. "Phew, that's good. Lucky..."

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked suspiciously, trying to look around him.

"Gah, don't look!"

"What?"

"I-I was checking if I still had any underpants on..."

A fist blindsided him, sending him staggering out into the hallway. "DON'T DO THAT IN FRONT OF A LADY!"

The door slammed shut with frightening force, shuddering in its place.

Naruto gingerly picked himself up, only to have Sakura open the door again and toss the revolting pyjamas in his face.

"So violent," he grumbled, holding the clothes at arm's length, pinched between two fingers.

"I heard that!" Sakura growled dangerously behind the closed door.

As he stomped down the landing, Kazuo's voice floated from one of the rooms. "Ah, Sakura's mad. You're in trouble, kid."

Naruto realised, as he finally located the bathroom, that his life was so screwed up it was not funny.

* * *

A/N: The plot-dinosaur wouldn't leave me alone, so this begged to be written. I'm hoping it won't impact too heavily on my other updates (though it already has). I actually planned out everything for this story, so I can work on this on and off whenever I'm stuck on the other stories.

Alright, now for some details.

Yes, a Naruto in the future fic. I've never read one so I don't know how well it will turn out. Just to get it out of the way - no, a new supervillain will not materialise and threaten the safety of the world.

The Naruto universe is very confusing with technology. I know there were trains and high-level technology in one of the Naruto movies, but I don't think I will consider those in this story. It's not quite canon. I'm pretty sure there were televisions (we saw one in the Chunin Exam arc) and I'm assuming there are radios as well. I think Gatou spoke with Zabuza over a phone, too. There aren't too many major differences, but as you can see, Naruto was quite overwhelmed by the cars - you have no idea how hard it was for me _not_ to type in CAR while writing that.

About the characters. If one of them exists in one time, they do not exist in the other. Sakura exists only in her time, not Naruto's, which is why it is an AU. Ino will also be staying in Sakura's time. They are the only ones I have planned at the moment for Sakura's time. I know that taking them out of Naruto's time will affect things, like what they were involved with in canon. I'm not going to elaborate much on those. That's where the power of fanfiction kicks in; you're just going to have to imagine that life went on, with minor changes and such. And yes, I killed off quite a few characters just in the first chapter, didn't I? Evil little me.

I used the same name for Sakura's father as I did in Only Human; less confusing for me to write. I couldn't resist the humour at the end (come on, they're both perverts...). And that was my tribute to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They may be slightly OOC, considering the different times and the war that changed Naruto a little. I'll try to keep them in character.

Lastly (sorry for long AN), thanks for reading all of that and I hope you enjoy this new story.


	2. Tomorrow

**Chapter Two: Tomorrow**

~O~**  
**

Life will leave you with a scar  
Just remember who you are  
And know that I can say  
Tomorrow's another day  
_Tomorrow – Shannon Noll_

~O~

His arm was stuck, ensnared in a tangle of torn muscles and tissue. Blood poured from the deep gouge and from the faceless man's gaping mouth. The flesh his Rasengan had shredded threaded itself into bleeding tentacle-like tendrils, snatching at his limb. With a meaty sucking sound, his arm sunk-

"Oof!"

Naruto half-rose from his makeshift bed, beads of sweat perspiring on his forehead. He groaned aloud and rubbed his stomach where something heavy had dropped on him, roughly jerking him out of his nightmare. Cracking an eye open, he saw that the object of offense was a satchel bag. His head flopped back down. He felt like he had fought a hundred rounds with the Konohamaru Corps – and lost.

"Who dropped a pink makeup bag on me?" he moaned.

"Huh?" A blurry face peeked over the back of the couch. Long strands of hair tickled his face, venturing closer to his nose than was comfortable. "Oh, it's you. Sorry, I forgot you were sleeping on the couch." The weight lifted off him. "And it's my schoolbag, not a makeup bag."

"What's the difference?" he grumbled. He rolled over, trying to fall back asleep. Unfortunately, he rolled the wrong way, and toppled maladroitly off his perch. His nose bumped into the edge of the coffee table. "Ow... why can't I ever get a _peaceful_ wakeup call?" he complained, more to himself than anything. Whatever happened to beautiful ladies?

Even getting up proved to have its difficulties. He had unconsciously woven himself into a snarl of blankets in his restless sleep. Naruto struggled to free himself from the mess, knocking his limbs against the couch more times than he could count in the process. When he had finally untangled himself, he tossed the blanket on the couch and straightened, rubbing his eyes blearily. Then he looked around him.

Sparse lounge, white walls, tasteful decor... "Whoa, heaven looks classy."

"Are you always this silly in the morning?" Haruno Sakura wanted to know. Naruto blinked at her. He knew who she was but it felt out of place, somehow. He'd never seen her in the village before...

Then it came back to him in a rush of confusion and disarray. He wasn't home – far from it. He was staying at a hospitable stranger's home, that was all. Naruto watched Sakura bustle around in the kitchen, an air of haste shrouding her. She had said that ninjas did not exist. How could he have forgotten that? How could he have forgotten any of this? To this point, he still had no inkling of what had happened to him – or what was _going_ to happen to him either.

He was keen to testify though, so, in a wary tone, he said, "Morning, Sakura."

She nodded and cast him a quick glance. "Yeah, good mo– oh, _wow_." She stared in wonder and disbelief.

Naruto sighed. Her expression was so human it had to be real.

A snort of extreme amusement escaped from Sakura. Naruto looked up to see her covering her mouth with both her hands; trying desperately not to laugh, from the looks of it. "What's so funny?" he asked her, a strong wave of déjà vu tingling his senses. He remembered asking the same question recently.

It was a battle between Sakura and the Giggles. The Giggles came out victorious. "You... your..." She shook her head, laughing. "You look ridiculous!"

It was then that Naruto looked down at himself, a growing sense of dread gathering at the pit of his stomach. He remembered doing the same after a comment from an old man in a park. Except he was not met with the sight of torn up rags. Instead, he saw himself in a pair of too-small purple pyjamas. With love-heart prints. And frills.

_Ah... crap._

"C-Can I take a picture?" Sakura asked, appraising him with a humorous smile. She seemed to have forgotten how embarrassed she had been last night. That wasn't much of a surprise; she also seemed to have overlooked the fact that he was a stranger her father had taken home just the previous day.

"No way!" Naruto's face was a mask of horror.

"Hey, those _are_ my pyjamas," she reminded him. It looked like she would have had more to say, but then her eyes landed on a wall clock. The humour rapidly drained from her face, quickly replaced with the urgency Naruto had witnessed earlier. "Crap, I'm going to be late!" Without another look at him, she hurried up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time.

"What are you late for?" Naruto called after her, confused. There had to be a limit to how much confusion he could legally take each day.

"School! What else do you think? There's breakfast on the table – go wake my dad for me, would you? There's spread for your toast if you want some!"

_School?_ Naruto thought. He didn't try to make sense of it. Maybe they had a different education system; he wouldn't be surprised. He _was_ surprised that Sakura had prepared breakfast for him though. There was a platter of toast on the dining table. It must have been what he had seen Sakura making earlier. Jars containing jam and peanut butter completed the set.

It wasn't much but Naruto felt his heart warm with gratitude toward the pink-haired girl. Maybe she wasn't as aggresive as he thought. No one had made breakfast for him before. He stuffed a slice of toast into his mouth, then proceeded upstairs to wake up Kazuo. There weren't many rooms to look through. The door to Kazuo's room was ajar, but Kazuo himself was nowhere to be seen.

Naruto stepped inside. "Kazuo?"

"What?" The voice came from a door at the other end of the room. _Built-in toilet, huh? Neat._

"Sakura made breakfast," he called to the man.

"You eat first, kid. I'm coming."

Kazuo's room lacked personality, Naruto mused. It was bland and boring. He saw some photos on a low table, but caught himself before curiosity got the better of him. He wouldn't be a very good guest if he went around poking his nose into everything. Not to mention he usually got into trouble for being nosey.

He was about to leave when something else occurred to him. "Eh, Kazuo?" He heard a grunt. "D'you think you have some clothes you could lend me?" He tugged at the shirt sleeves that scratched at his wrists. It was easily the most humiliating thing he had ever worn and he had no intention of running around in it.

"What's wrong with the pyjamas?" Haruno Kazuo asked casually.

Discovering that he his vocabulary lacked a word that could suitably describe his discomfiture, Naruto just made a strangled sound that he made sure the man heard.

Kazuo poked his head out of the adjoining bathroom, his dark hair dripping water. Naruto cringed as he was subjected to a considering look. There was no place for him to hide, damn it. "Kid, I'm impressed."

"Huh?"

"You look ridiculous." Like father, like daughter. It deserved a sigh.

Naruto folded his arms tightly over his chest. The frilly collar prickled his chin. "Thanks for the friendly kick at my self-esteem," he sulked.

Kazuo pointed a toothbrush at a wardrobe in the corner. "I've got some old clothes in the bottom drawer." He watched Naruto dig through it for a while, then chuckled and retreated back to the bathroom. Naruto thought he heard something along the lines of "Sakura will never wear those again."

"More like _I_ will never wear them again," Naruto found himself scoffing.

Pawing through Kazuo's clothes, Naruto started to understand the man's dress code. He uncovered an incredible collection of button-up shirts; any t-shirts he managed to find were strikingly white. There was not a spot of orange in the arrangement. Displeased, he settled for one of the dark blue button-ups and a loose set of trousers that looked like they hadn't seen daylight since Kazuo's teenage years. Naruto unsuccessfully tried to imagine Kazuo as a teenager and sniggered.

He went to the bathroom to get changed, which was on the same floor. He enthusiastically got out of the borrowed pyjamas. Kazuo's clothes fit him quite well, but the button-up shirt had long sleeves that irritated him, so Naruto folded them back to his elbows.

The mirror showed him a surprisingly well-dressed young man. Although his new clothes were not torn to strips or adorned with sickening love hearts, Naruto could hardly recognise himself. The attire was a tad bit tighter than a shinobi would have preferred but was somewhat satisfactory. It made him feel very clean.

While he was washing his hands, he saw the bandage around his right forearm and his brow pulled together. Peeling away the tape, he unravelled the dressing. As he had expected, the wound was still there, if a little paler. Scabs had formed overnight. Naruto grimaced. The fox should have completely healed it by now.

Naruto was about as much a worrier as he was a thinker. He liked to take things in stride, hardly planning ahead. But now he was starting to grow concerned. Kyuubi had never been this delayed before. He had tried to communicate with the demon last night in an attempt to figure out what had happened but all he had gotten was an unwelcome dream of gore.

He wrapped up his arm again, roughly and not nearly as neat as Kazuo's work. He stopped when he reached for the tape. Naruto blinked. He could have sworn he had taped it to the edge. He looked high and low for it, but finding such a small and transparent strip was, to someone who couldn't find something that was right in front of his nose, comparable to looking for a grain of rice in a desert. It didn't take him long to give up. It wasn't like he rarely misplaced things, either.

The door to Sakura's room was open so he walked right in. "Here's your clothes," Naruto said without looking up from attempting to tie a knot in place of the missing tape.

Sakura looked over her shoulder. "You should knock before you waltz right into someone's room, you know. Especially a girl's room," she informed him mildly.

Naruto chuckled. "Someone was always telling me the same thing," he said without thinking.

"Well, they're right. Must have been a girl, huh?"

The blonde's eyes softened. He hadn't intended to say that aloud and unearth memories of a certain pigtailed Sannin who always chucked something at his head whenever he invited himself into her office. "A girl? Not really." His voice was just a murmur. "More like mood swinging grandma." Tsunade always got mad at him whenever he called her 'granny', he remembered. She got mad at him for a lot of things. He wondered if she was mad at him for letting her down.

She would definitely punch him through several walls if she knew he was still anguishing; Tsunade had never liked cry babies. Not that Naruto was crying. But he did shake his head and get his mind out of the gutter. Jiraiya had already beaten sense into him. There was no need – no point – to weep all over the floor. What was done was done... right?

He found Sakura gazing at him when he looked up. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, giving her a grinning.

Sakura looked embarrassed that she had been caught looking but she held her gaze. Naruto acknowledged her valour. The civilian girls he had known became introverted when pressed – no fun at all. "You just sounded sad, that's all," she said, looking at him with a hint of curiosity. It felt oddly nice to have someone paying attention to him, especially a girl his age.

It was then that Naruto realised something. He was wary about strangers because many villagers in Konoha still did not approve of him, no matter how much they seemed to accept him for his contribution in the war. Kazuo and Sakura didn't seem to know anything about him and they treated him like they would any other person. If Sakura called him a pervert it was because he had given her that impression, and not because of any prejudice. He had felt the same swell of warmth when he heard that Sakura had made breakfast for him. It amazed him that he had known the Harunos for less than twenty-four hours.

A hand waved in front of his face. "Oi. If you're still tired you can go take the couch again."

"Nah. This is nothing. I've lived off two hours of sleep before," he dismissed jauntily. Sakura raised an eyebrow as if to say, _Two hours? Boy, are you a freak._ Naruto just smiled at her until she shrugged and turned back to whatever she was doing. Say... "What _are_ you doing?"

Sakura had squatted down to talk to him but now Naruto realised that she was standing on a swivelling chair, reaching up for something stacked atop a cupboard. She glanced down at him. "Getting my old biology books; I need them this term," she answered. He just nodded, like he knew what she was talking about. Shizune often talked to him about biology and how it was important to producing herbs, but he had never paid much attention. "Since you're here, can you hold the chair for me? It keeps moving."

"Uh, sure." Naruto grasped the back of the chair. It had wheels, he observed. It would have caused a lot of damage if Sakura had slipped. After several minutes of shuffling sounds, he looked up to see how she was doing. "Hey, you alright up..." His voice trailed off as he turned away quickly. Sakura wore a blouse that slid up when she strained upward. He saw a flash of skin. _I am not a pervert... I am _not_ a pervert..._

"I can't reach," Sakura huffed. Then she saw Naruto's red face. She started to frown, but the confusion quickly morphed into a look of mortification when she seemed to understand what Naruto must have seen. She caught on quickly, he'd give her that. She tugged down her shirt, flustered. "Umm..." she stammered, breaking the awkward silence.

Naruto groaned inwardly. How was it possible that something like _this_ always happened when he was around Sakura? "I'll get your stuff for you. I'm taller," he said distractedly, not meeting her eyes. He doubted she was looking at him anyway. Sakura had to understand that he hadn't intended to... look. It made him feel even more self-conscious.

She stepped down from the chair. "Thanks... it's the only box up there."

"I see it. Hold the chair for me, will you?"

Naruto reached up and pulled down a sealed cardboard box. He tucked it under one arm, using his other hand to steady himself as he got down. Sakura accepted it with a murmur of thanks. "You're pretty strong, aren't you?" she asked him when she was unpacking the box.

The question took him aback. "I guess. Why'd you ask?"

"It's a heavy box. You took it down with one hand." She was observant, just like her father.

"Heavy? Heh, that thing's nothing. I'm a... a strong guy, after all." He had been about to say 'ninja', but then he remembered Sakura's words from the previous night. She wouldn't believe him and he felt no need to convince her. Naruto knew ninjas existed. He told himself that it was enough – what else could he do about it?

Sakura had found the books she needed. Naruto offered to toss the box back onto the cupboard for her. She must have been watching him, because when he came back down again, her eyes were narrowed and she asked him what had happened to the bandages.

Naruto looked at his exposed wound, then at the floor. The dressing had slipped off while he had been hefting the box. "I lost the tape," he explained sheepishly.

"Why did you take it off... oh, never mind. Stay here." Sakura left the room with a sigh, looking slightly irritated. He heard her going down the stairs.

There was nothing he could do but oblige. Naruto had seen ill-tempered women before and his gut told him Haruno Sakura should not be messed around with. She was a tiger, that one. A strange one, but still freakily terrifying when she got down to it. She was uncannily like Tsunade. _Except for the chest_, Naruto sniggered. Sakura was not quite well-endowed, but as Jiraiya said, 'Big ones, small ones; as long as they have them, it's all mighty good!'

He was still sniggering when Sakura returned. She gave him a funny look and ordered him to sit on the bed. Naruto obeyed without complaint. She pulled the chair over to him and sat on it, setting a familiar white box on her lap. When he realised what she was going to do, he said, "You don't have to fix it up again. It's not like it hurts or anything."

"No, but it will get irritated, and if it gets dirty it could get infected," she replied sharply. "Hold your arm out."

"Kazuo can-"

She rolled her eyes. "Dad takes forever in the bathroom." Then she eyed him. "I _am_ a doctor's daughter," she told him, as if he had verbally doubted her capabilities.

Naruto watched her wrap fresh bandages around his arm. "Are you sure you have the time to do this?" he asked her hesitantly. "Aren't you, uh, late for school?"

"You're such a whiner." Sakura produced a roll of adhesive tape, having worked quickly and efficiently. She didn't have to clean and disinfect the wound so she managed it faster than her father had. "I usually try not to be late but I think I can get away with telling the teacher I ran into an injured cat or something. I'm a prefect, after all." She said it with the same air as she had proclaimed herself as a 'doctor's daughter'.

"Uh... huh."

Sakura applied an excessive amount of tape, going as far as to wrap a strip of it on each end. "Since you're so clumsy," she let him know, smiling at his indignant expression. "What about you? Don't you have school to go to?"

He shook his head. "I graduated already."

This seemed to surprise her. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen in October."

Once again, he was the subject of a weird look. "So you _are_ seventeen. It's the start of November."

"November? Isn't it April?" Naruto frowned. He had never been good at remembering dates, but this was quite a margin.

"No, it's November." Sakura looked over at a calendar above the bed. "Yeah, it's the fifth of November."

"... Oh." Something wasn't right. He was certain it wasn't anywhere near November. He would have remembered his own birthday. It was _wrong_. So many things were different in this place.

"You're my age, so you should still be going to school," Sakura was saying. She paused to give him a calculative look. "Unless you dropped out. But... ugh, I don't have time to work this out. I am so late!" Just like that, she shoved him back his arm and hurriedly packed books into her bag. "I think I missed the bus – damn, Ino's going to have another crack at me." The thought of this 'Ino' person and whatever she would do was enough to make her groan.

The books that looked heavy and didn't seem to fit, she carried. She slipped the satchel over her head and looked about ready to sprint out of the house, but she held herself back at the last moment to look at him one last time.

"Err, thanks?" Naruto thought that was what she was waiting for.

"You're welcome." Sakura hesitated, seeming to come to a decision. She gave him a simple nod. "It was nice meeting you, Naruto. Even if you are a pervert." Then, with a fleeting smile, she really did sprint across the landing.

It wasn't until he heard the front door slam shut that Naruto realised that he would probably never see her again.

Thinking back to the past fifteen or so hours, it _had_ been nice knowing her. Sakura had been a little difficult to begin with – but Naruto was hardly one to talk. He grudgingly acknowledged that he was the one who had gotten them started on the wrong foot. At least she seemed to have forgiven him now. Too bad their brief acquaintance had pretty much revolved around... ahem, _perversion_. It was hardly his fault that they were always caught in the most unwelcome of situations. He blamed Jiraiya and his naughty books.

But was Naruto ready to leave yet? He could tell that his chakra was still unrecovered. He thought his reserves had refilled by a very tiny proportion, but it was hardly anything; he would exhaust it with a single shadow clone. It wouldn't stop him from finding his way back to Konoha – but what would he do if he ran into enemy forces? If by that time his chakra had not returned, he would be a sitting duck. Not to mention that his movements would be slower and he would tire easily.

Common sense told him to remain in this unfamiliar place for a while longer. He hadn't been attacked yet and Naruto's previous presumption that he was trapped in a genjutsu was waning. Even someone like Pain would not be able to produce such realistic illusions. Haruno Kazuo and Sakura had substance to them; striking human elements that had to be genuine. Not even Itachi, if he were still alive, would have managed something like this.

And even if they could, good for them. They wouldn't need the tailed beasts if they could create something so authentic. Naruto had no shame for falling for it.

"Sakura must have been in a big hurry if she left you in her room." He wasn't startled. He had heard the footsteps and knew it could only be Kazuo. The man was leaning against the door, buttoning up one of his shirts.

"It's a really girly room," Naruto commented. There was a plush toy by his hand. He picked it up, wondering if it was a cat or a hamster. He had never gotten around to understanding the female attraction to 'cute' things. Gama-chan was about as cute could get for him. It was unfortunate that his frog wallet wasn't as robust as he was, and had been worn down from the many fights to the point where Naruto had to heartbrokenly throw it away.

Kazuo was looking at him. "What does your room look like, kid?"

"It's not much. Bit messy, actually. My bed's nice though." It felt weird not sleeping in that old bed with the almost too-thin blankets. It felt weird not to be home.

"Where's this room of yours?" Naruto knew where Kazuo was getting at. He was a ninja skilled at perception – well, he was supposed to be. Kazuo was a smart man.

"In my house."

"And where's your house?"

"Home."

Now Kazuo's eyes glinted. "And where's home?"

Naruto sighed. "Alright, you got me. I already told you I was lost, didn't I?"

"You live _somewhere_, kid. I'm trying to help you out." And he was. Kazuo was a cordial host Naruto could not have asked more of. The man would probably deliver him home if he knew how. No wonder he was a doctor. Shizune was like that too. "Tell me about this Fire Country." This time Naruto was certainly taken aback. He had _remembered_.

"No point, is there? You don't know where it is," he shrugged. His words were chosen carefully and spoken slowly.

"That's true," the man agreed. "But you don't seem to either."

"Hey, I'm not that bad with directions."

Kazuo did up his tie in front of Sakura's vanity mirror. He wasn't even looking at Naruto through the reflection. He was so nonchalant about everything – it was confusing. "How are you going to find your way home, Uzumaki Naruto?" he asked.

It was almost like he knew what the teenager was going to ask. Naruto exhaled slowly, getting to his feet. "You've been a very nice guy, Kazuo. You took me home, patched me up – you gave me ramen. Anyone who treats me to ramen gets in my good book." Naruto licked his lips. He was horrible at asking for favours.

"Are you trying to suck up to me, kid?" Kazuo was looking at him, an indication that he was paying attention.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm just telling the truth, that's all." Kazuo raised an eyebrow but gestured for him to continue. "So, uh, I'm lost, okay? I don't know how to get home... but I know... someone who might." If Kazuo sensed that he was hiding something, he didn't show it. "Except I can't get in touch with that someone right now. So..." He drew out the single syllable, giving his audience a sheepish grin. "Do you mind if I stayed here for a bit longer? I'll be gone by the end of the week," he added quickly.

It seemed that Kazuo needed to think about it this time around. His face was expressionless, so Naruto couldn't quite tell what the man was thinking. As the minutes trickled by, he began to think that he'd hit the limit, and was about to weather himself for the harsh streets when Kazuo unfolded his arms and said, "You're still taking the couch."

Naruto stared at him for a while before his exuberance swelled. "Sure thing!" Somehow, he didn't think Kazuo would appreciate a hug, so he just smiled really, really brightly. "Ne, so you wouldn't mind if I stayed in these clothes for today?"

"I haven't worn those pants for years." Kazuo eyed the garments with a faint look of nostalgia.

"I can wear them to sleep as well?"

"It depends if Sakura is insistent on lending you her pyjamas."

Naruto cringed. "I don't think she'll have a problem with it," he shuddered. Then he gave the older male an accusing look. "I bet you planned that thing last night just to embarrass me."

It wasn't that Kazuo was emotionless; it was just that he seemed so level-headed that it was hard to surprise him. Perhaps that was why Naruto had to blink a couple of times to check if his host was really smiling. It didn't stay for long, as Kazuo started to turn away. "It's about time for me to go to work," he said. "I won't be back for dinner tonight, but Sakura knows that – and now so do you."

It hadn't occurred to him how anxious he had been until he had Kazuo's assurance that he could stay. His curiosity perked right up. "You're really a med – a doctor, huh?"

Kazuo looked at him. "You doubted me?"

He just shrugged.

"Alright, I'm leaving. I wouldn't go out if I were you, since I'm not going to give you spare keys. But nothing's stopping you. Try not to get run over again." Naruto scowled and stuck his tongue out. He was surprised when Kazuo rolled his eyes – Sakura resembled her father more than he'd thought. "You can have the rest of the ramen if you're hungry."

Naruto waited but Kazuo was already walking down the hallway. He got up and followed him. "And?" he prompted.

"And what?" the man asked.

"Aren't you going to tell me not to break or steal anything? Or to stay out of your room? Something like that? You're just going to leave me in your house?"

"I am not a babysitter, kid." Kazuo stopped by the door to put on his shoes. "You're seriously telling me that my word will stop you from doing those things?"

Naruto was indignant. "I wouldn't do any of that," he frowned. He was an honourable ninja, for God's sake. He might have borrowed some of Jiraiya's books without asking, but the old hermit hardly counted as a victim.

Picking up a briefcase, Kazuo straightened and smoothed his shirt. "See you later, kid."

"It's _Naruto_!" the blonde called after him, jumping back before the door could slam in his face.

If anything did hit him, it was the silence. Naruto was alone in the house. Technically, it meant he could do anything he wanted. But all he really wanted was to go home. No, he _needed_ to go home. For all he knew, Konoha could be losing the war.

Meditation wasn't Uzumaki Naruto's forte. Actually, he hated anything that required him to sit down and shut up, but he had come to know meditation through the Sage training he had been put through, and Jiraiya made sure he knew that meditating would help him access his prisoner without having to wait until he was about to get killed. Naruto didn't stick with the cross-legged position; he just did whatever was comfortable and sitting on the couch with his head in his hands suited him fine.

"Alright, Kyuubi," he muttered, closing his eyes, "let's talk."

It took quite a few minutes for him to settle down. Emptying his thoughts as well as he could, Naruto cast his consciousness into the back of his mind, delving into the seal. No matter how hard he tried to describe it, there was no way he could adequately recall _how_ he did it. He just did. Jiraiya often scoffed that he fidgeted too much – but it worked, and no one could complain.

Naruto couldn't help but feel horribly dirty each time he visited the sewerage environment that was the Kyuubi's den. It wasn't just the dingy decor; the demon's chakra was at its strongest here and it felt like it had seeped into the mouldy walls like rust. It was hard to believe that such a dark place existed in his subconsciousness. It made the Kyuubi look much less appealing – and it hadn't been very good-looking to begin with.

He had only taken a few steps before he sensed that something was off. There was usually an abundance of red chakra swirling around, or at least making the air heavy. Naruto could hardly feel anything, not even when he stopped and concentrated. His lack of chakra obviously had something to do with the demon fox. It was enough to make him think. Kyuubi was an all-powerful demon – how the hell had it freaking run out of chakra? Was it even _possible_?

At least the towering metal gates had not changed much. Naruto planted his feet in front of them, crossing his arms. "Oi, furball, get out of-" His voice broke off and he froze. It wasn't instigated by the lack of response from his tenant, even though Kyuubi was quick to respond to disparaging nicknames.

It was the paper bearing the kanji for 'seal' that was stuck high on the gates, keeping them shut. Half the paper had been burnt away. A chill ran up Naruto's spine as he tried to comprehend what had razed the Fourth Hokage's powerful seal. It would still suffice in its purpose of holding the demon in, but it would definitely complicate things. He needed to ask Jiraiya.

But first, he had to talk to the Kyuubi. It was depressing that the demon was the only familiar presence he could turn to. It had spent so long declaring how almighty it was – it'd better know what had happened to them and how they could get back.

Two parties were required to hold up a conversation. Unfortunately, the Kyuubi didn't seem to feel up to it. It was weird; it had never missed a chance to have a jab at Naruto. So many things weren't going the way they always did.

Warm air gusted from within the gates as a low rumbling emanated from the dark space. Naruto stepped up to the gates, going as far to poke his head between two of the bars. It was impossible to see through the pitch blackness, but he could sense the demon there. It felt... faint. "Fox?" he called. "Hey, what are you doing back there? Come out – I want to talk."

Nothing. He could hear something akin to growling, but wasn't quite the same. It took a few more drafts of the hot air for him to come to a startling realisation.

The Kyuubi was _sleeping_.

"What in the world?" Naruto exclaimed, bewildered."Hey, wake up!" Something nagged at the back of his mind. From his knowledge, the demon had never needed to sleep before. It didn't feel like it had suddenly decided on an afternoon nap, either. He had a feeling his lack of chakra stemmed from the Kyuubi's slumber. In fact, the Kyuubi seemed... tired.

_It's impossible_, he thought. And by no exaggeration, it was. A tailed beast held close to infinite chakra reserves – and the Nine-Tails was supposed to be the most powerful of the beasts. It was such a colossal force that it could almost be comparable to nature itself. How could something like that get _tired?_

Naruto felt his concentration crack. He could only hold the 'visits' for so long, but he rarely needed this much time. The gate was starting to recede, swiftly retreating away from him. Naruto watched with narrowed eyes as it faded into blackness.

It hurt to look at the pale-washed walls when he opened his eyes. The clock told him he had been immersed in the den for almost half an hour. What had he gotten out of it? Not much besides the ridiculous knowledge that a demon was _tired_. He had never before wished so much that he was wrong. Deep down, Naruto felt that this meant something bad – very bad. It was more than a gut feeling.

He stretched as he got to his feet, sighing. As usual, there was nothing he could do about it. There was barely anything he _could_ do lately. It felt like so much had happened, yet only a day had passed.

It was only hitting midday. There was no telling when Sakura would be back. Kazuo hadn't restricted him from doing anything in particular. Naruto's mind was set on a shower. He felt dirty despite his physical cleanliness. He always did after visiting the Kyuubi and he made it a point to cleanse himself if he could; it was another of his bizarre habits.

He had been given a towel to use last night. Naruto fished it out of the laundry basket and went upstairs. It would have been nice to have clean underwear on hand – but he'd be damned if he was going to look through Kazuo's wardrobe for boxers.

It was heavenly to have a shower without the hot water getting cut off, so he spent as long as he could under the water, letting it pound against his shoulders and back. Sakura had pleasant-smelling shampoo, he noted as he tipped some into his hand. He knew it couldn't be Kazuo's; it was too floral-scented.

There wasn't much to do after the shower. Naruto tried out the television while his hair dried. There were more channels than he was used to but nothing good was on. No action-packed cartoons or anything of the like. He flicked it off after ten minutes of watching a guy cook some sort of curry. _Any more and I'll be all over the kitchen_, he thought gravely. But he went over and ate a few more slices of cold toast anyway, finishing the plate.

Within minutes, he was bored.

Anyone who knew Uzumaki Naruto would have called Kazuo insane for leaving him to his own devices, especially in his own house. In fact, Naruto himself wasn't even sure if he could pass the day without causing some kind of catastrophe. He liked to think that he knew what he was doing. Most of the time, anyway. It wasn't quite his fault that the Hokage's chair had broken down after he sat on it – okay, _dived_ on it. Tsunade had chewed him out for hours.

He definitely would not be able to cause damage to property if he wasn't in the house. Staying inside hadn't boded very well with him anyway. Naruto was keen to see more of this strange place and work out some connection back to the Leaf Village. The only thing holding him back was hesitation and the fear of getting lost. His defences broke down easily.

Naruto was adamant to leave one of the ground floor windows unlocked so he could climb back in, and locked the front door. The first thing he saw was one of the hunks of metal on wheels – a 'car', he reminded himself. Then the warmth of the sun danced on his skin, the rays making him squint. It was a nice day. Nothing short of Akatsuki dropping out of the sky could change that.

He took a good look at the Harunos' house before he set off, hands in pockets. He didn't have plans to venture far. He only hoped he could find his way back afterwards. Naruto took a look around the block, admiring the variety of houses. Even the construction material they used differed from the village buildings.

People didn't look at him twice now, he noticed. Getting rid of the scruffy clothes must have helped. After observing some of the men, Naruto could almost say that he _looked_ like them. At least, the clothes did. No one wore padded vests or kunai pouches on their thighs. He could not see a single person who looked like a ninja – he couldn't even pinpoint anyone who looked like they could defend themselves if he suddenly launched himself at them.

Then he came across a small group of people standing by the edge of the pavement, waiting for... something. Interested, Naruto walked up to them, trying to see what they were looking at. The answer was nothing. They were just waiting. After a while, he tapped a young boy with a bicycle on the shoulder. "What are you guys waiting for?" he asked, leaning over. The kid was only as tall as his elbow.

"The lights, stupid," the boy retorted. He looked at Naruto with distaste. "Big kids these days are such dorks."

Naruto's hand slammed down on the kid's head, mussing up his hair. "Hey, treat me with some respect, will ya? You don't go around calling people 'stupid' like that." He was distantly aware of a bleeping sound, and that the other people they had been standing with were walking across the road.

The little boy broke free, scowling. "Stupid!" he called over his shoulder as he wheeled his bike across the road.

"Brat!" Naruto retaliated. He was tempted to follow but the cars were moving again. He hadn't noticed that they had stopped specifically for the people. _Damn,_ _I should have followed them_.

He was determined to cross the road without getting run over, so he waited just like the others had. A portion of park poked out on the other side of the street, enticing him. But the cars didn't stop for him. Naruto started getting annoyed and waved at a couple of the drivers. He was widely ignored. Why didn't they stop for _him_?

He was on the verge of giving up when an old lady drew up beside him. She pressed at a button on the pole. About two minutes later, a light on another pole across the road lit up with a picture of a green person, and the cars halted. Naruto's jaw dropped. A button... a _button_. He was kicking himself as he jogged over to the other side. Cheap tricks. He was not going to fall for that again.

The park was nowhere near as large as the first one. Unlike the one Naruto had woken up in, it wasn't just an expanse of green. It contained a small playground. Naruto was immediately drawn to the swings. There were a bunch of kids crawling over the slides and playing tag; he spotted the snotty kid from before. It was the sight of the boy playing with his friends that held him back from teaching the kid a good lesson. It was a privilege to have friends and Naruto would never ruin that for any child.

Naruto had spent an unhealthy portion of his childhood clinging to the wooden swing outside the Academy. It had been his only sanctuary. Now, rocking lightly on another swing in another place, he felt a pang of solitude. He didn't know anyone here. He did not appreciate the reminder that companionship – or lack thereof – could be so painful. Having spent years gaining recognition and bonding friendships, it gave him insecurity to think that he had still ended up alone in the end.

It wasn't fair.

Then he shook his head. What was he thinking? He always looked on the bright side. He wasn't going to think about how isolated he was, or fret over the possibility that he would never be able to find his way home. At least, he would try not to. If a day was going to pass regardless of his mood, he might as well pass each day with happiness.

A newcomer arrived, stirring commotion among the children. Naruto raised his head. At first, he thought it was Sakura. It was the same pleated skirt and blouse. Of course, with Sakura's hair, it was easy to tell that this girl was not her. _The exact same clothes?_ Naruto wondered. The girl appeared to be the sister of one of the kids and was dragging him home. The kid complained but was eventually overpowered. The playgroup gradually split up, some getting picked up, others making their own way home.

_At least they know which way to go_, Naruto mused. To think that he was jealous of a kid. It was laughable.

He sat on the swing until more girls wearing the same clothes as Sakura had started to pass by the park. It was most likely some kind of compulsory uniform. Naruto waited a while longer, but eventually he got bored of waiting for Sakura to turn up and started heading back the way he remembered coming from. She probably took another path home and he didn't even know if seeing the uniformed girls meant that school was over for her as well. Regardless, he planned to beat her back to the house.

He did. Clambering in through the window, Naruto could tell instantly that Sakura was not back yet. He hoped she would be soon. There was nothing for him to do here; no construction work, no Ichiraku's, no drama – no one trying to kill him. Emerging from a land plagued by war into a place where the worst that could happen was him was getting lost was a drastic shift that Naruto could not adjust to. He needed to do something.

So he started making lunch. He found the leftover ramen in the fridge and spent some time trying to figure out how to use the microwave. When he thought he had the hang of it, the front door opened, keys rattling. Sakura stepped inside, dropping her bag by the side of the door. Surprise flickered across her face at the sight of the blonde boy in the kitchen before she seemed to remember. He wondered if she knew he would be staying for the rest of the week.

Naruto grinned at her. "Welcome home."

She cracked a smile at the irony. "You are so lucky you don't have to go to school," she told him as she kicked off her shoes.

"Heh, I told you I; I graduated. Oh yeah, did you get in trouble for being late?"

"Nope. The teacher hadn't arrived yet. I was only late by a couple of minutes anyway. I ran." Sakura reached over her shoulder, rubbing at her neck. "I'm going to take a quick shower," she said absently.

He made a shooing motion at her. She looked tired; school must be tough. He couldn't remember much of his Academy years but he did remember that he hardly ever did his homework. Intuition told him they did not practice throwing shuriken and jutsus here.

Sakura's shower was as quick as she said it would be. She returned just as Naruto located a pair of chopsticks in one of the many drawers. "Where's mine?" She looked pointedly at the ramen as she towelled her hair.

Naruto hunched over his meal protectively. "You can starve," he said playfully. He eyed the can of soda she got out of the fridge. "Where's mine?"

"You can die of thirst," she said.

"So mean..."

She rolled her eyes and reached back for another. "Catch."

Naruto slurped up his noodles and placed the can on the table in front of him. He watched Sakura look through the cupboards, and felt like a bully when she pulled out a frying pan. "I'd share but..." He gestured sheepishly at his noodles.

Glancing over at him, she snorted. "No way. You eat like a pig."

He made a face at her. "Need help?" he offered.

"I can take care of myself. I'm a _girl_, after all." She waved the spatula around and gave him a look that seemed to promise extreme pain if he dared reveal that he was sexist. He blinked blankly at her. Sighing, she heated up the stove. "Just eat your lunch, Naruto."

"Yes ma'am." He kept an eye on her. She could crack eggs with one hand; it had taken him years and cartons of eggs to perfect that particular skill. "Thanks for the breakfast, by the way," he added in a softer voice.

Sakura just smirked.

Naruto had just about finished his ramen when Sakura sat down with her stir fry. He took his bowl to the sink, rinsed it and left it to dry, then went back to his seat. "That smells really good," he observed.

She tauntingly waved a spoonful in front of his nose. "You can starve," she said, echoing him. She ate slowly, savouring her companion's wistful glare more than the meal.

"You know, I was thinking... Is this usually how you treat strangers?"

His question made Sakura blink. "No, actually. Usually I'm a bit politer."

"How come you're not polite to _me_ then?" Naruto attempted to look wounded.

She looked thoughtful as she ate. "Dunno," she shrugged finally. "Maybe because we're the same age? Or it could just be you. You're a bit of an idiot, if you ask me."

He sipped at his soda. It was fizzier than the drinks he generally stocked. "I didn't," Naruto groused.

"And what about you? Do you usually get lost and stay at random people's houses?" So Kazuo must have already told her. At least she didn't seem to mind. He wouldn't be too sure though; girls were unpredictable. They changed their minds in a snap – it was crazy.

"Well, I get lost pretty often... but nah, I don't go around borrowing couches," he answered. He peered carefully at her. "Are you... okay with me staying here for another week?"

Sakura looked a little serious now. "You know what, Naruto? I didn't exactly like the idea of my dad bringing you home and letting you stay over. Not only are you a pervert, we didn't even know you." She gave him an apologetic look but he waved it away, hiding a grimace. "But... well, I don't see anything stolen, and the house hasn't burned down or anything. I think I can deal with you for a week."

"Yeah?"

"You're not that bad, I suppose." Abruptly, she narrowed her eyes at him. "As long as you stay out of my pyjamas." Her cheeks still gained a rosy tint despite her steely tone.

"I wouldn't wear them again even if you paid me," he assured her.

"Good."

They did the dishes together after Sakura had finished eating. "Are you _sure_ you don't mind?" Naruto wanted to make sure.

Soap water flecked on his cheek. "Geez, I didn't know you were such a wussy."

"_Wussy_? Excuse me?" he sputtered. "I was just thinking for your sake, what with me being a guy and you a girl!"

Sakura stopped. Silence fell as they stared at each other for several moments. Then she groaned. "Thanks for bringing it up. I didn't even think of that!"

"You're kidding me, right? Don't you remember what... what happened last night?" His eyes were wide.

"Last... baka!" She slapped him on the back. Hard; surprisingly so. Naruto lurched forward, his head almost hitting the tap. Sakura was already wiping her hands and stalking away when he recovered.

"Where are you going?" He was confused. _That is one heck of a blush she's got on her face._

"Packing!"

_Uh-oh... I think I did something stupid again. _"You don't have to leave just because I'm a guy – I'll just be here for a few more days. It's not like I can sleepwalk into your room or anything!"

"N-Not that!" Sakura spun around and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You don't knock when you walk into rooms, do you?"

"Eh? Uh... not really?"

His answer seemed to deepen her rosy complexion. "I'm packing!" she said again. Before Naruto could blink, he could hear her storming up the stairs.

He poked his head over the counter. "Packing _what_?"

"My... never mind!"

Naruto frowned. It kept nagging at him as he finished washing the pan and set them on the rack. Tsunade hadn't been like this. But then, Tsunade was old enough to be Sakura's grandmother. Maybe teenage girls were different...

_Oh_.

"Sakura?"

"What?" she yelled down. A second later, she added in a voice slightly higher than her usual one, "You're n-not coming up here, are you?"

Naruto traced his steps back down the stairs. "Of course not," he yelled back. "I was just wondering something."

"What?"

"Are you packing away your girl stuff?"

That silenced her.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, nodding sagely. He knew it. "It's alright. I don't even know the difference between... what are they called again? Tamp-"

"You idiot! Don't... don't... ugh, how in the world am I going to survive you for a week?" With that, the door slammed shut. _Again_, Naruto noted, remembering last night.

He stood at the bottom of the stairs for another minute before throwing himself onto the couch, sulking. "Girls," Naruto moaned aloud. "Isn't there a single jutsu that will help me understand them?"

Apparently not.

* * *

A/N: Bit of a filler chapter, this one. Nothing special, which is another reason why I thought I'd update it now. The Naruto and Sakura moments were unbelievably fun to write - they're so hilarious when they're awkward!

Also, what do you guys think of the format so far? I've avoided using cut scenes in these two chapters; just something I thought I'd try out. Is it getting tedious or does it flow better? I know some people like to read in sections, and the chapters are a tad bit longer since I have to make the scenes flow together.


	3. Little Wonders

**Chapter Three: Little Wonders**

~O~

Our lives are made in these small hours  
These little wonders, these twisted turns of fate  
Time falls away but these small hours  
These small hours still remain  
_Little Wonders – Rob Thomas_

~O~

"I'm going to kill you, you bumbling oaf!"

Gingerly, Naruto picked himself up the grimy floor, brushing himself off. Then he glared at the familiar mass of crimson chakra shaped into a bubbling representation of the den's resident. "I was actually having a good dream until you popped in," he said irritably. "Where were you when I actually came looking for you, huh? You were _sleeping_!" He answered his own question, ignoring the relief breathing through his being.

A massive claw slammed against the metal bars. Naruto eyed the seal as it flapped hazardously at the impact. "You," the Kyuubi snarled. "You wanted to know what happened – let me tell you what happened. You got _caught_." It spat out the last word.

Naruto stared into the beast's narrowed eyes. "What do you mean I got caught?" he demanded.

But he could already feel a sinking sensation as his mind reluctantly put together the pieces. He didn't exactly need the Kyuubi's confirmation, whatever dull snippets of it he actually heard. It hit him like a physical blow, snatching his energy away, and it took him most of his resolve not to reel back staggering. Pain had defeated him. Akatsuki had the last of the tailed beasts.

He had failed.

Naruto closed his eyes, struggling to accept reality, that he had single-handedly made vain of everyone's efforts and sacrifices. Dimly, he heard the Kyuubi's rumbling voice but he registered none of the words. It was undoubtedly going on about how much of an idiot he was. The Nine-Tails despised imprisonment and Naruto almost cackled thinking of how enraged it must be to have been captured in the same manner as its fellow demons.

"Wait a minute," he blurted, cutting through the Kyuubi's speech. Before it could reprimand him, he went on to ask, "What the hell are you doing _here_ then? You were sealed by Pain, weren't you? How am I _alive_?" He was thinking of Gaara and of how he had been able to do nothing but scream in agonised fury over his friend's lifeless body.

Cerulean eyes widened as the Kyuubi let out a bellow of laughter. "You lowly humans are so naive."

Naruto stared.

"Those _fools_!" the beast continued exultantly. "They thought they could contain _me_? I am the most powerful of all the tailed beasts!" It raised its great head with self-satisfaction. For some reason its confidence was not assuring in the least.

"What did you do?" Naruto said slowly.

The Kyuubi leered at him. "Simple. I tore a fissure in time and space."

"You... you _what_?" _No. No way. Impossible..._

"Did you think I was going to be controlled by the likes of you filthy humans?"

"What," Naruto said, his voice suddenly harsher than he'd ever heard it, "did you do?"

The Kyuubi looked piercingly at him, and when the blonde failed to look perturbed, it gave a snort and muttered something coarse. "You heard me. I forced open the veil of time to escape the sealing."

He couldn't contain it. "... You can do that?"

"Che, how do you think we got here, idiot? You forget that I am the Nine-Tails."

The technicalities failed to make sense to Naruto – but he did come to one conclusion. "So we're not home." He could answer that himself; a deafening no. Whatever the Kyuubi had done had catapulted them into another _time_. It was mind-blowing. Somehow, even though he had supposedly escaped death, that made him feel even worse. His head was spinning.

"_So you _are_ seventeen. It's the start of November."_

"_November? Isn't it April?"_

That answered a lot of questions. No wonder this place was so alien. Naruto's knuckles were white. "Is there a way we can go back?" he asked quietly.

There was a pause. "I am not going to do that for you, human. This is the first time I have attempted to interfere with time itself. Even if I did tear open another veil, it would not be the exact time we came from. So your answer is no." The single word resounded off the cold walls and rang sharply in his ears.

In other words, he would never be able to go home. He would never see his friends or that Pervy Sage again. Naruto pressed the heel of his palm into his eyes. _What am I doing?_ he thought fiercely. _It's not like I'm going to cry or anything..._ Of course he wasn't going to cry. He was a weathered ninja for crying out loud!

And he would never be able to become Hokage.

"_How are you going to find your way home, Uzumaki Naruto?"_

It took effort to suck in a breath – and even then his lungs had difficulty drawing in the oxygen. "Then why did you do it?"

"Why did I do it?" The Kyuubi gave a bark of incredulous laughter. "Brat, you are alive because I did what I did. This is what makes your species so weak; you wallow in your emotions and let them influence your decisions. To think that someone with the likes of you could contain me – pathetic." It growled when Naruto remained silent, eyes squeezed tightly shut. "Raise your head, human. _Look at me._"

Numbly, Naruto heaved out a heavy breath and met the demon's patronising glare. What was the stupid fox getting all worked up over anyway? It didn't have a freaking care in the world! It was alive and it obviously couldn't care less if its host spent the rest of his days bemoaning his fate.

"Boy," it said impatiently, "you are alive because I interfered. If I had just left it as it was, you would be _dead_. Think about that. I saved your worthless life. Now be grateful!"

There was not a single hint of concern in its voice, and perhaps it was just his fraught desire to know that someone cared, but Naruto found himself clenching his fists and shaking his head. Just how much more of this could he take?

"You know what?" he said suddenly and loudly. "I'm tired of you, Kyuubi. You think you did me a favour by saving my life – but I'm not going to thank you. You want me to live because you'd die if I did. Well, let me tell you something." He grinned nastily. "Screw you." He jabbed a finger at himself. "I'm going to live because I want to, not because you like bossing people around, got that?"

It was in times like these that Naruto saw the Kyuubi as the intelligent being it was. It was obviously aggravated, but it also seemed to understand who held the cards at the moment. "Good pussycat," he approved, suddenly feeling very weary, very old. The smile gradually waned. "So... tell me how you did it."

"I don't feel obliged to, simpleton. You, who foolishly ignore my power, would never understand the greatness of my abilities."

Naruto crossed his arms, not budging. "Try me."

The Kyuubi's eyes narrowed to slits. "Your precious Yondaime's seal," it finally hissed. "It was breaking down. I took advantage of it and ripped open a dimension to another time."

"Wait... 'the remainder of your chakra'? Exactly how much of you got sealed?"

"... Half, before the seal deteriorated enough for me to take control." The weakened beast fired up again when Naruto balked. "This is _your_ fault, brat! We lost because you wouldn't let me help-"

"Help," Naruto muttered bitterly. "Yeah right."

"Silence!" the Kyuubi thundered furiously. "It was your blundering around that landed us in this situation. If only this damned seal had totally disintegrated, I would tear off your unworthy hide! One day, I _will _be free from you."

In all honesty, Naruto was surprised the seal was still holding up. Yes, he could feel the demon's presence stronger than ever, but he thought the seal would have been the first thing to go when the extraction began. The Yondaime was indeed the legend everyone said he was. "Can't you, like, get it back or something? Your power?" he asked the Kyuubi.

"No. It's not even possible for me to absorb it back because we are cut off in a different time dimension. As it was, I barely had enough resources to transport us here. I had to borrow the King of Hell statue's strength – shut your trap, human," the Kyuubi snapped when Naruto raised his eyebrows. "I simply made use of what I had. All _you_ did was whine pathetically in pain." With another unimpressed snort, its massive form coiled in on itself, retreating into the inky blackness. "You are annoying. Leave, human."

Naruto direly wished he knew how Konoha was doing. Had it fallen? What would Akatsuki do now that it was fundamentally impossible to capture the Nine-Tails? Would half the demon's power suffice for their ambition? He was getting sick of all the questions that continued to pop up. He had no answers to any of them.

But he did know two things:

One: he was screwed.

Two: he would have to live with it.

* * *

He woke to the sound of the front door creaking shut. Naruto turned his head to look at the wall clock: half past eight. Kazuo must have left for work. Having had three days to study the Harunos' behavioural patterns, Naruto discovered that Kazuo occasionally left the house at absurd hours. When Hinata had started working casual hours at the hospital to compensate for the shortage of medic-nins, she had told him that she had to be prepared at any time of day to save a life. Naruto shuddered at the thought of waking up at three in the morning.

Tucking one arm under his head, Naruto gazed up at the pale ceiling. No cracks or chipped paintwork. He'd never wake up to the spider web of cracks in his apartment ceiling again. Nor would he... He severed his train of thought there. He didn't need to list them; it would only rub salt in the wound.

At least it was guaranteed that there was no Akatsuki here. _The last thing I need is for them to pop up. _Naruto sighed. He hoped this place didn't harbour any megalomaniacs.

They say time flies when you're having fun. Naruto was not enjoying himself in the least, but when he looked at the clock again he found that he had been brooding for almost twenty minutes. "New day," he announced gloomily to no one in particular. _New life_, a cynical voice reminded. He mentally swatted it away.

Naruto resignedly padded his way upstairs and into the bathroom. His gaze settled on a lone toothbrush set in the wall as he gargled some of the mouthwash Kazuo had given him. It had hit him for a round when he had figured out that Sakura was the only one who shared the bathroom with him, since Kazuo's room had its own bathroom. It was an intriguing experience, sharing a bathroom with a girl.

On the topic of Sakura, Naruto couldn't help but notice that her bedroom door was still closed; she usually left it open if she was not inside. He could feel her presence too, and again he had to marvel at her faint chakra capacity. Curiosity encouraged him to turn away from the staircase and gently ease open the door. Treading silently, he stepped inside.

It was the first time he had seen Sakura asleep in her bed. She was curled up on her side and Naruto could see that she was hugging one of her stuffed animals to her chest. Her face was so peaceful that he had to chuckle. It was actually quite cute. She hadn't gone to school the previous day either, so he assumed it was the weekend and there was no school; he liked to take a break on the weekend too.

He stood there for a few more minutes before it dawned on him that a guy in a sleeping girl's room probably wasn't the best idea. Pausing, he tentatively reached for Sakura's blanket and tucked it around her shoulders, careful not to disturb her, and then exited the room.

_Wow, she really was serious about hiding her girl stuff,_ he thought vaguely. Then he knuckled himself in the head to ward away any thoughts that would further taint his innocence.

It was almost nine o'clock – _breakfast time_, Naruto's stomach decided. He would think about the other matters later. He had all the time in the world, didn't he?

He was disappointed to find that there was hardly anything in the fridge. After digging through the cupboards and double-checking the fridge once more, Naruto realised that he could only make bacon and eggs. It took him a couple of minutes to go through all the cupboards and find the pan and he hunted for plates while it was heating up.

_My cooking skills must be more out of whack than I thought,_ Naruto mused when the first egg stuck amateurishly to the bottom of the pan. He was constantly in a rush because of the war so ramen or some other snack usually sufficed. With some prayers to the cooking gods, the rest of the meal emerged relatively presentable. He entertained himself by arranging the ingredients into a disfigured face, using some grapes and carrots he had uncovered only moments ago for the nose and eyebrows.

He set the table and then bounded upstairs to wake up the pink-haired girl. Naruto admitted that he was a little more excited than was necessary; he felt very satisfied with himself for returning the favour.

Sakura was still curled up on her bed. He squatted beside her, smiling at the way her mouth was hanging slightly open. She'd probably blush and smack him upside the head if he told her that. He shook her on the shoulder lightly. Her brow furrowed but she didn't wake. Naruto was slightly tempted to wake her up in more... creative ways... except he didn't think Sakura would appreciate that.

So he continued to shake her. "Oi. Sakura. Brekkie time... Sakura!" He grinned when her eyes slowly opened. "Wakey wa – OW!"

She had yelped at the sight of his face, mere inches from hers, and instinctively backhanded him.

"Good... morning?" Naruto groaned from the floor.

Alarm was sketched all over Sakura's face – he noted arbitrarily that her bed hair was rather exotic. "Don't _do_ that!" she exclaimed, clutching her toy tightly. He must have freaked her out. _Self-defence_, Naruto's mind supplied unhelpfully.

"Yeah, thanks. You don't think you could have warned me a little earlier?"

Sakura blinked down at him, as if just registering that he was there. It looked like she was going to ask him what he was doing down there. Before she could, though, her eyes lit up as she remembered. "Oops," she said apologetically, offering her his hand. She yawned behind the other as the shock wore off. "What did you wake me up for?"

"Breakfast," he replied. She looked adorable rubbing her eyes like that.

"Okay, I'll be down... wait, _breakfast_?"

Despite his sore rear and face, Naruto puffed out his chest smugly. "Yep."

Her jade eyes widened. "_You_ made breakfast? For _me_?"

"You bet." He pulled the blanket away from her, sticking his tongue out at her indignant expression, and pulled her to her feet. "Go brush your teeth, kid. Go, go, go!" He practically steered her out the room.

Sakura scowled. "Who are you to call me a kid?"

"Doesn't Kazuo ever call you that? That's what he calls me."

"Well, that's just you, isn't it?" she pointed out. She was on the verge of brushing her teeth when she looked over to where he was leaning against the bathroom door. "You're not just going to stand there, are you?"

"Eh?"

She rolled her eyes. "I am not going to brush my teeth with you looking over my shoulder."

"Oh." He backed away, grinning sheepishly. Uzumaki Naruto could take a hint. "I'll, um, see you downstairs, yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

It wasn't until Naruto was sitting down at the table that he realised that he and Sakura were from entirely different worlds. She had grown up in a time he hadn't existed in. And yet she was still so human, so _normal_. It was like he wasn't informed of the time difference. She didn't notice anything different about him even though Naruto had just received one of the most shocking revelations of his life. It was bizarre... and a little comforting.

"Is that supposed to be artistic?" That was quick. He hadn't heard Sakura come down.

Naruto pasted a grin on his face as he looked over his shoulder. "It's a face, can't you see?"

"Eh? Really?" Sakura peered at it, spinning the plate around. "It sort of looks like one, I guess... somehow. And are those _carrots_?" She received a pleased nod and sat down, shaking her head amusedly.

Naruto didn't start eating until Sakura had tried the bacon, and he felt ridiculously delighted when her face lit up with pleasant surprise. "I toooold you," he teased, earning himself a swift kick to the shin. He shut up after that. Not that the meal was entirely silent. It wasn't even uncomfortable like the first night had been.

Sakura revealed herself to be a bit of a social butterfly and she regaled him with various tales; some fascinated him, others left him confused, but none were boring. Her school was an ugly building, had he seen it before? He shook his head, and she waved her hand dismissively and told him about the old buildings and rundown quadrangle. Her friend Ino's parents owned a flower shop, he should take a look around sometime. Kazuo had told her the stock market was looking good lately – Naruto stopped her to ask if a stock market was where they sold pigs. She laughed humouredly and patiently explained, but first could he pass her the salt?

"So," Sakura finished, popping the grape into her mouth, "what about you?"

Naruto looked up, a bit of egg hanging from the corner of his mouth. Rolling her eyes, she handed him a serviette. He blinked at it before wiping his mouth. "What about me?"

"What about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

She kicked him again – she was good at it. "Stop avoiding the question, Naruto," Sakura admonished playfully, her eyes twinkling. She was in a good mood. It was a little contagious.

_I'm a ninja that doesn't seem to exist, I apparently came from the past, and I feel so freaking _alone_. Yeah, that's me. _

Naruto just shrugged. "I... like ramen," he tried, smiling half-heartedly.

"... Right. And?" It surprised him that Sakura was actually interested to learn about him. He could count on one hand how many people had ever looked at him with such consideration. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Err... I _really_ like ramen?"

"Oh, you're hopeless." She picked up their plates and tipped them into the sink. "How about... do you have any ambitions or anything?"

"Well, of course! I'm gonna be Ho..." His voice broke off with a grimace. Sakura cocked her head inquisitively. "A ramen chef," he finished lamely.

Sakura looked blankly at him for a minute. "An unattainable goal is a good one... I guess."

"Um... thanks?" Naruto replied uncertainly. He was glad that she did not press him. He'd bluffed his way out of it somewhat unconvincingly and he had no doubt that Sakura was not deceived. _Maybe I should tell her_, he considered, then immediately decided against it. There wasn't any point, was there? It wasn't like it would magically teleport him back, and he didn't know if she would accept his reasoning. Even _he_ was struggling with it.

"Huh, it's ten o'clock." Sakura's voice broke into his thoughts. He looked up to find her smiling at him. "Do you feel like going out with me?"

Naruto stared dumbly. "Like a... date?"

"No, silly!" He winced as she smartly slapped the back of his head. "We're going shopping!"

* * *

"... Wow."

"Hm?"

Naruto pawed through his vocabulary for a more expressive word – and failed miserably. "_Wow_."

"Scrape your jaw off the floor before someone steps on it, Naruto. Haven't you been to a shopping centre before?" Sakura was amused by her companion's dumbfounded expression.

"Well, I've been to the markets... but this place is gigantic!"

"Trust me; there are larger centres out there."

It was challenging to wrap his mind around that. The large building hadn't looked like much from a distance but now that he was inside Naruto knew that it housed a colony of shops. All the chatter from the shoppers crowded under the one dome-like roof, becoming a constant drone of voices. Everywhere he looked there was something new. It was nothing like the shops back home.

Back home – the two words stung. If he was in a better mood, Naruto would certainly have surrendered to the temptation of adventure by now. But he hadn't, simply because he didn't feel like it. How had he let himself get dragged here anyway? He frowned, aware that his mood shifted in short bursts; he was alright when his predicament slipped his mind, but the minute it came back to him it felt like he was slowly being crushed by an inescapable Earth jutsu. If anything, he just wanted to be alone, preferably crawling into a deep dark hole somewhere no one could intrude.

"You're blocking the entrance, Naruto." Sakura pulled him aside. The weight of her hand on his arm reminded him of where he was and soothed him enough so that he could see that the doorway was also something else; two panes of glass automatically slid open whenever a person approached. Maybe he would find it fascinating another time.

"What are we doing here again?"

"Shopping, I told you. You're going to help me carry everything back to the house. Time to earn your keep, freeloader." Sakura led him onto some sort of staircase – except it wasn't exactly a staircase because it moved by itself and slowly carried them up to the second level. Naruto grabbed onto the handrail just in case it buckled unreliably and sent him flying over the edge. It didn't and they reached higher ground in one piece.

He stayed close to Sakura, almost walking right into her. The whole place practically begged him to explore every shop and corner there was, but Naruto was not particularly enthusiastic. Konoha didn't have anything like this. It only served to remind him that he was far from home. He was lost enough as it was.

The surroundings were a little more familiar inside the supermarket Sakura led him into. She found a trolley for him to push and wandered down the aisles. Naruto trailed after her, paying only half a mind to what was being tossed into the trolley and what was being said to him.

"Naruto, I can't reach. Can you help?"

"Mm, sure. What d'you need?"

"Up there... no, not that one; to the left... thanks."

He hadn't asked Kazuo for a change of clothes so he had been wearing the same shirt and trousers for days now – Naruto wondered if they smelled. He didn't think they did; Sakura would have told him. The clothes were like some sort of... disguise. A very effective disguise, at that. As he had noticed a couple of days ago, no one even seemed to consider that he was... well, an _outsider_. It was baffling that they didn't see that. Only he knew that he did not belong. How would they react if he told them that? Did he even want to know?

They were lining up at the checkout before he knew how they had gotten there. Naruto blinked at the heap of contents thrown chaotically into the trolley. Toilet paper, salt, ice cream, detergent... "Do you always do the shopping?" he asked Sakura.

She nodded. "Every weekend. Usually I do it on Saturdays but I got a little sidetracked."

"What about Kazuo?"

"Dad? Pfft." Sakura laughed as if he had asked her if the sky was green. It did not escape him that she hadn't answered the question.

She crammed the bags into his arms after they left the store. "Hey, wait a minute!" he protested. "Can't we just use the trolley?"

"Don't be a baby – it's not that much. See? I'll even help you."

"Yeah, conveniently grab the toilet rolls, why don't you?" He bore the load anyway. It was just that bantering with Sakura was rather amusing and helped alleviate his qualms.

There was a particular skill to picking good fruit and vegetables that Naruto had never quite mastered. He watched as Sakura stopped by the grocery store and peered down at a stand of bananas. She found herself a basket and off she went. She settled in with the ease ofa mother. Except she wasn't a mother, and that was what bothered Naruto.

"Why doesn't Kazuo do the shopping?"

"He's too busy, I guess. Or too lazy."

He shifted the other bags to one hand and took the basket from her, receiving a small smile of gratitude. "But he's your dad. He's supposed to look after you... right?" Naruto didn't know what it was like to have parents. Jiraiya had been the closest to a father as he'd ever had... _No, don't go there, Naruto._

The blonde boy grimaced and focused his attention on Sakura. She was holding a tomato in her hand but her eyes were distant. He waved a hand in front of her face. Blinking, she snapped out of it. "Huh? Did you say something?"

"Why are you doing the shopping?"

"Because I want to."

"What about Kazuo?"

"He has to work. Could you get me a... oh wait; you don't have any hands." She reached across him for a roll of plastic bags and pulled one off. "Why are you asking me this anyway?"

"It's weird. Parents-" He almost tripped over Sakura when she stopped without warning and looked over her shoulder.

"I'm just taking one for the team," she murmured. Then she wandered off toward the fruits, completely forgetting about the tomatoes.

Naruto snapped his mouth shut. She didn't look upset or irritated, but shinobi knew the essence of secrecy better than anyone. If Sakura didn't want to talk about it, that was fine. The curiosity would prod gallingly at him for a while, but he wasn't exactly being entirely truthful either, and he didn't want to be a hypocrite.

He felt a small spark of remorse for pressing her, though, and tried to take the bags off her hands when they left the store. She shook her head. "Don't be greedy." She looked pointedly at the small colony of shopping bags crowding at his side.

They went down the moving stairs again, and Naruto was cautious about stepping off; he felt unbalanced when his feet hit solid ground that didn't move on its own. Seeing his discomfort, Sakura chuckled. "Mou, you look like a country boy, Naruto. Where are you from anyway?"

"... Konoha." The word... tasted weird in his mouth. The syllables were like foreign music. Nostalgia and a sense of hopelessness taunted him.

Sakura was oblivious. "I haven't heard of it before. Is it far from here?"

"I guess, yeah."

"Is it a nice place?"

It was still vivid in his mind. He could remember it from the day he'd first stood atop of the Hokage Monument. He could remember it even when it was war-torn. It wasn't nice – it was beautiful. "It's the only home I've ever known," Naruto said simply, and turned away.

Sakura wore an expression of confusion for a moment, her head cocked. After a moment, she just shrugged and tugged at Naruto's arm. "This way."

They walked into a clothes store. Again, they deposited their load in one of the available trolleys, but Naruto let Sakura push it this time, taking the opportunity to look around. Most clothing stores in Konoha had rolls of fabric and samples to tailor specific requirements for each customer, but this store seemed to have all its garments premade and ready to sell. He thoughtfully fingered the fabric of a shirt on the rack as he passed by the aisle.

It took him a few minutes to realise that Sakura was not only flicking through the hangers in the aisle, but also looking judgementally back at him every now and then. "What?" Naruto asked finally, when her head turned for the sixth time.

Her eyes briefly flickered to his face before they resumed appraising his attire. "You look pretty good in blue, Naruto," she mused.

Naruto blinked. Then he smiled, even though it was a little tight at the edges. "Finally noticed I'm handsome, huh?" He placed his hands on his hips, purposefully flexing his biceps.

"Perfect. Don't move." Naruto stiffened, not because of Sakura's order, but rather at the swiftness she approached him. It was likely that he was just on edge, but his instincts screamed at him to recoil and retaliate. _Stupid war... making me all paranoid. _He exhaled deeply and stood still as Sakura walked around him and flattened something against his back. Several seconds later, she took it off, but just as he was turning around she held something else up against him. Naruto tried to look over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Do you like short sleeves or long sleeves, Naruto?"

"Err... short sleeve, I guess."

"Hmm..." He heard her place some hangers back on the rack. "Face me for a second." He did as he was told, and she held up a light blue t-shirt against his front. Her brow was pulled together and she muttered illegibly under her breath.

Naruto turned his head to one side; the tip of the hanger was scratching against his chin. "Is Kazuo my size or something?"

"That's a silly question; you're wearing his clothes," Sakura pointed out wryly. He rubbed the back of his neck. It was too early for this. "And besides, these are for you."

"Really?" he asked, surprised. Then it sunk in. "W_hat?_ Why... why are you buying _me_ clothes?_"_

Sakura picked out another shirt. "You'll be leaving us sooner or later, right? You don't have any clothes of your own and you can't keep wearing Dad's even if he let you. So I'm in charge of getting you a couple of shirts and pants."

Finding himself reluctant to accept gifts from the people who were helping him for nothing, Naruto waved his hands in front of him and protested. "Wait, wait. You shouldn't spend money on me like this."

A fine eyebrow arched. "Why not? Dad even gave me money for it."

"It's just... you were right; I'm a freeloader. I don't deserve this." He grimaced. "I'm sure I can figure something out myself. You don't have to get anything for me."

Sakura looked at him, smiling faintly. "You're way too modest. No wonder I didn't trust you at first." She was shaking her head. "How can someone be so _nice_?"

Unsure of what he could say, Naruto just shrugged.

"Are you really that uncomfortable with us buying you some clothes?"

He nodded hesitantly. Even when he got free ramen at Ichiraku's, he always helped Ayame wash some dishes, or ate a few more bowls the next day. It was just the way he was. He did not fancy doing things in halves.

"So would you feel better if you did something in return?"

Naruto paused, tentative. As much as he was grateful toward the Harunos, he did not want to agree to something he could not do. "What do you want me to do?" he asked finally.

Sakura didn't even have to think about it. "You can pick me up from school and carry my bag home for as long as you're staying with us."

Naruto fell into a stunned silence. Then; "... _Huh_?_"_ Sakura winced at the volume and some bystanders cast disapproving looks in their direction. Naruto sheepishly waved a hand in apology and waited until they had turned away before lowering his voice. "Are you serious, Sakura?"

She matched his hushed tone, teasing him. "What else can you do? My bag is heavy sometimes, especially if I have my tennis equipment."

"Yes, but... is this all you want from me? Just to pick you up from school?" It was too... light. It wasn't a punishment, he knew that, but Naruto had been expecting something more extreme. No money, no lifetime promises – no command to steal a forbidden scroll or kill someone... It was preposterously lax. He had been raised to be cautious. But no matter how he looked at it he could not see why Sakura would need to lie.

"Take it or leave it," she told him, secretly puzzled by his reaction. When he sighed resignedly, she smiled. "I can't believe I'm trying to convince you to let me buy you something."

He couldn't believe this either. He didn't mind picking Sakura up – he'd have to ask Kazuo for directions though. But Sakura had said he was too nice. No, he was just doing what he felt was right. Kazuo and Sakura Haruno were the altruistic ones.

Sakura picked out two shirts for him, one with a bright cartoon on it and the other, on Naruto's insistence, was orange. Apparently, Kazuo had said he could keep his current pants, so they only chose one other from the store. Naruto was directed towards the change room with the items and instructed to try them out for Sakura to judge. When he tried to protest, she just looked at him sternly and said, "I've been buying my dad's clothes for years, so shut up." And, wisely, he did.

When they left the store, Naruto wordlessly gathered all the bags, leaving none for Sakura, and she let him do so without comment. She simply understood. Except _he_ didn't. Strangers. The word was so... remote. Strangers had given him a roof over his head, had fed him, and were willing to spend money on him, a stray boy with no clothes. Strangers could understand him.

What was the world coming to?

Since they had quite a lot to carry, Sakura explained that they would 'catch a bus' home. A 'bus', Naruto soon discovered, was very much like a 'car', only longer, blockier and with more seats. And quite a few senior citizens. Naruto's legs felt cramped with all the shopping bags at his feet, and he fidgeted relentlessly; he was rapidly developing an undeserved dislike for these bumpy machines. Even so, he was even more unhappy about the clothing arrangement.

"I could have just worn Kazuo's old clothes," he persisted.

Sakura groaned softly. "You're still thinking about that? Naruto, it's done. You're so old-fashioned."

_Old-fashioned. Yeah, I'm probably hundreds of years outdated._

"It didn't cost that much anyway," Sakura continued. "Don't you feel that you would rather have something that belonged to you?"

Naruto looked at her sadly as she turned to look out the window. His mood had gradually lightened during the shopping trip, but now he could feel it sinking again. _I don't even have control over my own life,_ he wanted to tell her, but kept his mouth tightly shut.

Noticing his silence, Sakura looked back at him. "You're quiet today, Naruto. Is something wrong?"

Oh yes, something was wrong. What in Kami's name was he going to do? He knew nothing about this place – he had literally been dumped in the middle of nowhere and now he was expected to just _survive_? What sick joke was this? It wasn't funny _at all_.

"No," he heard himself lie, to both Sakura and himself, "nothing's wrong."

* * *

Not for the first time, Kazuo wondered what was wrong with Uzumaki Naruto. Presently, he glanced sideways at the blonde youth sitting on the couch beside him. Naruto's knees were drawn up, a sign of a closed conscience, and his eyes were clouded and didn't appear to take in the program the television was broadcasting. Sakura had reported that Naruto was an enthusiastic individual and had the tendency to ask a lot of questions. The statue sitting beside him was anything but sociable.

Teenagers and their unpredictable mood swings. Sakura rarely bothered him with her conflicts, though Kazuo was well aware of the times his daughter smiled and told him she was going to do her homework, when really she was huddling forlornly on her bed with her music turned up high. Those were the times when he wished she would just _talk to him_. But she never did. Either she refused to trouble him, or she was adamant to handle her problems on her own.

Except Uzumaki Naruto was not Sakura. He was not Kazuo's child, demanded none of the man's responsibilities, and Kazuo was starting to question why he was bothered with a perfect stranger. It was a pointless waste of his day off.

And yet Kazuo continued to sit there, watching a show he otherwise would not even look at twice. He waited. Eventually, just like he'd known would be the case, Uzumaki Naruto began to talk.

"Kazuo, do you have any ramen lying around?"

So they made instant ramen, took the cups back to the couch and resumed their previous positions. The only difference was the steaming noodles and slurping sounds.

"Bored out of your mind yet?" Kazuo asked between mouthfuls.

"Hm. I was wondering... what do you guys do around here?" Damn, the kid ate quickly.

"That's a very general question, kid."

"Like..." Naruto's face scrunched up. "How do you live?"

Kazuo finished his cup and put it down on the coffee table. "You asked the right man. When you inhale, oxygen is carried to your lungs and is circulated around your body, allowing-"

"I didn't mean that!" Naruto said exasperatedly when he saw where the explanation was going. It was the loudest he had been all morning. Kazuo saw improvement. Like most troubled minds, Naruto welcomed distraction. "I mean, what should I be doing?" The question was a strange one, and the grimace told Kazuo the boy had realised that as well.

He raised the matter Sakura had brought to his attention earlier when he had asked her what she thought of Naruto. "You should be in school, kid."

Naruto's eyes widened by a fraction. "I've finished school. Why do you think I'm just a kid? I-I can look after myself." His tone was defensive, though Kazuo could not for the life of him figure out why.

"Really now?" Their eyes met.

"Yes."

Kazuo crossed his arms. "Alright then. Walk out the door right now and go home."

An assortment of emotions flashed through Naruto's eyes. Confusion, shock, pain – emotions too deep for an outgoing teenager. Sakura was mature, yes, but Kazuo received the impression that Uzumaki Naruto had been forced to grow a lot in a short amount of time.

When the teenager finally spoke again, his voice was an indecisive whisper. "Are you kicking me out?" Kazuo supposed he could. He had done everything he was obliged to for someone he had met only days ago. No one could call him heartless if he let Naruto leave his household. The boy would have nothing more to do with him.

"Where would you go if I did?" he questioned of his companion.

Naruto frowned, suddenly finding his hands very interesting. He mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?"

"... know."

"Louder, kid."

"_I don't know!_" Naruto's voice broke with anguish. Kazuo had to restrain himself from flinching. This wasn't a child's tantrum; it was a man's agony.

Silence descended between them, interrupted only by Naruto's heavy breathing. The blonde did not apologise for his outburst, nor did he appear to be angry. Instead, he was visibly mortified, as if he had just voiced something he hadn't been able to bring himself to believe.

"Naruto, are you in trouble with the law?" Despite his distress, Naruto managed to look confused. "Are you doing anything illegal?" Kazuo reiterated.

Blue eyes grew wide with alarm. "No! Of course not!" The very prospect obviously astonished him, making it hard for Kazuo to discern a lie.

The man narrowed his eyes. "You don't think you're being rather suspicious, kid? I pick you up off the street, you end up staying longer than intended, and now you're telling me you have nowhere to go." With each allegation, Naruto's head dropped a little, until all Kazuo could see was his ruffled hair. "Just what is going on, Naruto?"

His audience was not eager to spill his guts, so Kazuo got up to dispose of their ramen cups. Uzumaki Naruto; the strangest kid he'd ever met. There was no stated obligation that he _had_ to help him, yet Kazuo felt that he could not simply get rid of Naruto without first figuring out what was wrong. Although he could tell quite plainly that Naruto was not telling him even half of the truth, he didn't look like a good for nothing punk who constantly lied between his teeth. He'd said he had nowhere to go, and Kazuo found himself willingly believing him.

"Kazuo?" Naruto raised his voice only a little so that the man could hear him. He hesitated for a moment, swallowing the silence. "Are you sure you... don't know of a place called Konoha? The Leaf village?" Now where had he heard that before? It seemed to be all the boy wanted to know, and considering the unnameable significance his response could bring, Kazuo sorted through his knowledge with care. But sometimes you couldn't help even if you wanted to.

"I'm sure. Never heard of it."

"What about Fire Country?" Now Naruto sounded desperate, but his voice somehow dull at the same time. He had likely foreseen Kazuo's answer.

"No."

Kazuo went back to his seat and flicked through the channels on the television. Distracted, he switched it off. It was the unhelpful doctor side of him that urged him to sympathise with Uzumaki Naruto. He was a man who saved others, who unconditionally treated all patients, regardless of race, gender, background, _anything_.

From what he had heard from her, Sakura had had no problems with Naruto so far – except for his 'perverted ways', but she had the sense not to mention it to her father again. Being roughly the same age, the teenagers could relate more easily. Kazuo had the suspicion that, if Naruto ever felt like unloading on someone, it would be Sakura. He did not claim to understand teenagers outstandingly well, but Kazuo Haruno had once gone through that stage. Adults were the most reliable guardians and also your most powerful enemy. He had not a single doubt that Yamanaka Ino knew things about his daughter that Sakura had never been able to share with him.

"Kid." He had to nudge Naruto when the blonde did not answer. "Kid, you're going to have to trust me."

Naruto shrugged, his gesture succeeding only in making him look smaller. He was like a patient who refused to divulge how he had hurt himself. Kazuo could not diagnose an injury without sufficient understanding of the patient.

He was tackled by a totally irrelevant question of the sort that he was beginning to expect from Naruto. "Do ninjas exist, Kazuo?"

It was a child's question. Yet it was different to how seven-year-old Sakura had tugged at her father's hand and unpretentiously asked if Santa Claus was real. This was a child's question in solemn context. Kazuo calmly looked into the younger man's eyes and shook his head.

Resolve sparked in the blue orbs, flickering with the weight of reality. However, instead of letting himself sag like a deflated balloon, Naruto squared his shoulders and raised his head.

"I guess life still has to go on," he announced to thin air. He turned back to Kazuo. "Do you think I'm annoying?"

"Yep."

Naruto grinned. "Do you think you could let me stay for longer?"

Kazuo crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Now why would I do that? It's a lot to ask, you know."

"Yeah, I guess so." It sounded like he was aware of the immense favour he was requesting. "I won't freeload off you, I swear. I'll... I'll, um, find myself a job. And I'll pay you rent and that."

"You found your friend, have you?"

Naruto's brow furrowed. "My..." His face lit up, then darkened. "Oh. Yeah, I found him alright. He wasn't very helpful."

"Huh."

"Please, Kazuo. I'll leave once I'm ready."

Ready for what?

_I should try the Lotto,_ Kazuo thought. Of all the other teenagers in the world that he could have taken pity on, it had to be Uzumaki Naruto. His colleagues and friends knew that he was not a soft man. That was the verdict; Kazuo Haruno didn't do anything wrong. In his line of profession, he couldn't afford to. But when it came to this grinning youth with his crushed disappointment, he just didn't know what was right or wrong.

"Wash the car."

"Uh... what?" But through the hopeless confusion, Naruto's eyes were sparkling with hope. Kazuo sighed. He really was going soft.

"Until you get yourself a job, you're going to do anything I tell you. And I'm telling you to wash the car."

Naruto's face split into a grateful beam. "Yes sir!" Then he seemed to remember something. "Hey, when does Sakura get off school?"

Kazuo glanced at the clock. "An hour and a bit. At three. Why?"

"She told me to pick her up after school every day." The teen was scratching his head. Interesting. Sakura hadn't told him that, but knowing his daughter, she would not fail to leave out anything of importance.

"You're too gullible, kid. She probably didn't mean it."

"Why not?" he frowned. He seemed to realise exactly why at that moment, and his eyes softened. "Well, that's even more reason I should go. How do you get to her school? Got a map?" Noticing Kazuo's sceptical look, he added defensively, "I can read one. Ero... a friend made sure I knew." The sadness returned to his eyes, but only for a second before it was banished, leaving only faint traces of pain.

Kazuo sighed. "There's one in my room. Bedside table, second drawer. Bring it down; I'll show you."

The kid was up in a blur, evidently nimble on his feet. He was halfway up the staircase when Kazuo heard him stop.

"Kazuo... how do you wash a car?"

He really was starting to wonder if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

* * *

"Come on, Sakura, are we friends or what?"

Sakura zipped up her satchel bag and rolled her eyes as she headed for the door. The question was so overused, so commonly tossed out, that she couldn't even take it seriously anymore. If only she had known the weight it had borne that time Ino had asked her in sixth grade. If only... but everything was alright now, and if their renewed friendship of three years meant anything, it would take more than a simple 'no' to rid Sakura of Yamanaka Ino.

"I don't see what's so interesting about him," she replied dismissively. "He's just another guy, that's all."

"'Another guy'? _Just_ another guy?" Ino was dismayed. "He drops into your life out of nowhere and suddenly he's staying at your house until God knows when – you're not concerned _at all?_" They paused to greet the janitor, but almost as soon as the man had passed, Ino pressed on. _Rhetorical questions; you have to love them_, Sakura thought. "Forehead, he's _been in your room_! No other guy has been in your room before except Ken!"

Sakura didn't need her so-called womanly instincts to presume that Ino was not going to leave her alone without an answer in some form. She sighed. "One, Ino: it was a big deal at first, but now it isn't. There is nothing special about him. Two: I did _not_ let him in – he climbed in through the window. Three," she said, and was suddenly very grateful that she had mastered the poker face, "Ken's been waltzing into my room since we were five. He doesn't count. So there."

"Oh, so Ken doesn't count, does he?" Ino said slyly, switching track. "What would he think if he found out about your 'roommate', hm?" Too late, she realised what she had said and her face contorted in chagrin. "Sakura..."

The pink-haired girl turned away, her eyes clouded. "What? I'm fine. We're just friends – you know that."

"Yes, but-"

"Ino, I'm _fine_," her companion interjected firmly, looking straight ahead. Ino pressed her lips together, and Sakura took no notice of her friend's sympathetic glance, which was usually as scarce as an F in her report card. In fact, she didn't even register that Ino was tugging at her arm until the blonde girl saw the need to step on her foot. That pulled her out of her reverie. "Hey!"

Her accusation fell on deaf ears. Sakura's arm jolted in its joint as Ino's jerks increased feverishly. "Two o'clock. Now."

The front courtyard was almost drained of students. Sakura instinctively turned toward the bus stop, only to find that the usual flock of impatient teenagers was not crowded around it; she must have missed the early bus, and the next bus was half an hour away. _Great, I have to walk_, she thought morosely.

Of course, Ino gave her no time to wallow in self pity. "Not that way, Forehead! _There_!" Although she was facing Sakura with an excited look on her face, her finger was pointed in a completely different direction. So much for subtlety. Shaking her head, Sakura looked over her friend's shoulder.

_That orange Hawaiian shirt looks so familiar..._

"You can't be serious," Sakura muttered, her eyes growing wide.

"Well, no – terrible fashion sense doesn't really appeal to me. It looks like he's waiting for someone anyway. I wonder who it is – he looks really fit..."

The person of interest turned around at that moment, looking up from his shoes. He caught sight of Ino's pointed finger and, consequently, Sakura. His face lit up. "Hey, there you are!"

She stared incredulously as he approached. "You actually _came_?"

Uzumaki Naruto's hand habitually went behind his head. "Your school isn't that bad-looking," he commented.

Ino had watched the exchange with a slack jaw, and now she settled her gaze in Sakura. "That's him?"

"That's him," Sakura confirmed slowly, not taking her eyes off the newcomer.

Naruto looked confused. "Hi?"

"Hi," Ino said, but got no further, as Sakura had already stepped in front of her.

"I wasn't serious about you picking me up," she told him in a low voice.

His gaze was so intense that Sakura almost shivered. "I know. But I said I'd come and I always keep my word."

"You don't have to. How did you get here anyway?" She hadn't bargained on Naruto actually finding his way to her school. He seemed like the sort of guy who would take the arrangement seriously, but she had thought he would either forget or eventually discover that he could not possibly pinpoint where the school was. And yet here he was, all six feet of stranger.

"Kazuo gave me a map. And he also told me the same thing."

"What?"

"That you didn't mean it seriously."

So her father had been the culprit. Sakura was not aware that it was his day off. She hardly ever was. Her father's work hours were subjective to change and she had long since ceased her attempts to see a pattern.

Ino was smirking at Naruto. "Hey there, Loverboy. I'm Ino."

"Uh, hi. I'm Naruto." Then he blinked. "Loverboy?"

Groaning, Sakura grabbed Ino by the shoulders and marched her a distance away. "Excuse us for a minute," she called back to Naruto. Ino twisted away when they were practically pressed up against the gate. "What are you _doing_? Don't tell me you're interested!" Sakura hissed.

"Oh, chill, Forehead," Ino soothed, her smile mischievous. "I can see that Loverboy's got his eyes on you. Getting cosy already?"

Her cheeks traitorously turning red, Sakura glowered at her companion. "I don't even know him that well, Ino. I'm not suddenly going to fall head over heels for him – what sort of girl do you think I am?" Ino opened her mouth, but Sakura cut through her. "And no, I _won't_ fall for him. He'll be leaving soon. The furthest he's going to get is a friend – maybe a good friend, but just a friend. You got that?"

"He came just to pick you up," the blonde pointed out. "Like a good boyfriend should."

"Is everything okay?" Naruto's voice made Sakura jump, holding her back from strangling Ino. She whipped around. Christ, he walked without a sound! Judging from her uncontrollable outburst of giggles, Ino had seen him coming. She was in so much trouble.

"Everything's dandy," Ino chirped, wrestling herself free of Sakura's riled grasp. "Oh, quit it, Sakura. I know you two want to be left alone. I'll go now, happy?"

"You do know that I am going to kill you tomorrow, right?" Sakura ground out, eyes narrowed. Ino smiled sweetly, bade Naruto a suspiciously civil goodbye, and left humming a popular tune. Sakura was well accustomed to her friend's moods, and she could tell that Ino was, as she claimed, uninterested in Naruto. No, that little spring in her step was giddy triumph. It usually meant a lot of text messages.

"What's that?" Naruto questioned when she fished her mobile phone out of her bag and switched it off.

Glancing at him, she held it out. "It's a phone. Mobile, cell, portable phone?" She had noticed that Naruto was clueless about a lot of things. Remembering his reaction to the mall, Sakura wondered where he had come from. He was a strange person, shrouded in ambiguity. How much could she learn about him before he left them? She started walking with that thought in mind.

And was promptly yanked back to the present when Naruto gave a yelp and abruptly vaulted face-first into the pavement.

She stopped with a surprised gasp. "_Naruto_?" Kneeling down beside him, she quickly looked over for injuries – none. She breathed out a sigh and absently brushed dirt off his shoulders. "Why are you so clumsy?"

He was disgruntled and red in the face. "It's not my fault!" he proclaimed indignantly. "These stupid things keep making me trip!" He kicked up a leg and Sakura caught a flash of grey. "I want my sandals back. How are you supposed to walk in these?" Oh, it was his shoe. She could see the problem.

"Naruto, you need to tie the shoelaces."

"... The what?"

She eyed him, questioning if this was a farce. She doubted it. "You're not telling me you walked all the way here, are you?"

"But I did..."

"With untied shoelaces?"

"I... think so?"

Sakura pointed down at her father's old sneakers. "Shoelaces. They... hold the shoe tighter together?" When Naruto failed to comprehend, she took off her bag, pressed it into his arms, and crouched down to tie up one of his shoes. "Like this."

"Oh hey!" His tone was that of amazement. "That feels loads better! How did you do that?"

Sakura slapped a hand to her face.

That led to a hopeless explanation of which nothing seemed to make sense to Naruto. He failed dismally when Sakura tried to teach him. It was like teaching a child – even her younger cousins had never had trouble with shoelaces. This guy was a walking catastrophe.

Almost ten minutes later, Sakura threw up her hands and swatted Naruto's hands away so she could tie up his remaining shoe herself. "There," she huffed, patience worn thin. Her irritation ebbed away when Naruto's shoulders sagged a little, and she all of a sudden didn't feel very accomplished. "How about I teach you when we get back?" she offered. That seemed to cheer him up a little. For some reason Sakura felt that Naruto was not nearly as enthusiastic as he had been the first couple of days of his stay. He had been gloomy since... only yesterday, actually.

Although he appeared to have found his way to Sakura's school with the help of a map, Naruto seemed to have close to no idea how to get back. She took note of this with an amused smile.

It was not until they had crossed the road that she realised Naruto still had her bag. However, when she asked for it, he stubbornly shook his head. "It's why I came," he said. Something told her that arguing would bear no fruits of success.

"I'm glad you're man enough to carry a pink bag then," she shrugged. This had obviously not occurred to him and Naruto turned away, embarrassed. Sakura stifled a giggle, keeping a straight face. "You don't have to come anymore, Naruto. I'm happy you did, but I wasn't expecting you to. It's alright, you know."

The road tapered away to make way for the harbour. Naruto turned his head towards the expanse of water. "I know you said it only to make me feel better."

As denying it would only dig herself into a deeper hole, Sakura kept silent. She frankly did not know what had compelled her to do such a thing. She did not see herself as an unconditionally generous person. It was simply one of the many things a person could say but not mean. Only Uzumaki Naruto would interpret them literally. His appearance did touch her a little, though. He cared enough to remember and carry out his promise. Not everyone could do that.

He turned his head to give her a small smile. "I'll wait for you at the gates every day." And that was that. While Sakura digested it, Naruto had already breached a new topic. "I'll be staying with you for a little longer. Kazuo said it was fine."

She was not nearly as perturbed as she should be. Maybe Ino did have a point. There was just something about Uzumaki Naruto that made him seem... harmless. It was hard _not_ to accept him.

Her wordlessness alerted him. "You don't like that?" he frowned.

"No, I'm fine with it. Really," she assured. "I was just thinking. Maybe Dad and I can clear out the study for you; we don't use it much. Do you think that would work?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He smiled gratefully, but it disappeared quickly at Sakura's next question.

"Say... why can't you go home?"

She knew immediately that she had said something wrong. Naruto stopped, hand rested on the railing, and looked out at the port longingly. His eyes shimmered with the water's reflection. "I just can't," he settled to say after a while.

Sakura nodded slowly. Her mind conjured up various possibilities of what could prevent Naruto from returning to his home. Several stood out in sharp contrast, but in this case only one shone with the highest likelihood. She was hesitant to confirm it with him. It was wrong to, of all things, be curious of someone's pain.

But she wanted to understand. Although Uzumaki Naruto was not much more than an acquaintance, she wanted to help him. At least, she hoped she could cheer him up a little. It was disheartening to see him saddened. She wanted his grins to reach his eyes and shine with genuine joy. At the end of the day, Sakura just wanted the people around her to be happy.

"You came from another country, didn't you?"

"Mm, guess you could say that."

"Is it... in the middle of a war?" She bit her lip. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.

Naruto's eyes sharpened. The hand gripping the iron rail tightened, the skin stretching across his hard knuckles. Then it loosened. "I guess you could say that too," he murmured. He flashed a weak grin at her. "You're pretty smart to hit the nail on the head. I bet you do well at school."

"What about you?" she asked.

"Eh?"

"Did you do well at school?"

He chuckled, shoulders trembling. "Nope. I was dead-last."

"Oh." Feeling awkward, Sakura turned her attention to the port. "I like coming here."

"It's nice," Naruto agreed, but his voice was quiet. This would not do.

Sakura looked around. Her eyes settled on a nearby ice cream stand. "Give me my bag for a second, Naruto." She went through the pockets for her wallet, and smiled at him. "Wait here."

She could feel his eyes on her back as she walked up to the stand. Again, she questioned why she was going through this for someone she hardly knew. She wouldn't be like this with another stranger, she knew. But then, not every stranger on the street unwelcomely climbed through her window. Despite the short time they had known each other, it already felt like she had been through an impressive ordeal with Uzumaki Naruto. It was extraordinary.

Brushing off her musing, Sakura returned to her companion with an ice cream in each hand. Naruto was smiling slightly. "Chocolate or vanilla?" He went for the chocolate. She handed it to him, and in doing so noticed that her bag was now slung over his shoulder. Orange and pink clashed spectacularly, and she admired the sight.

Naruto was giving his ice cream a funny look, staring intently at it. Frowning, Sakura asked, "Don't you like ice cream?" He shook his head and told her that, no, he did, he loved it. "Then what's the problem?" He didn't know. "Well then..." She 'accidentally' bumped his elbow, causing the top of his ice cream to smear over his mouth. She grinned. "Eat up."

He looked at her in astonishment. "I can't believe you just did that."

"Why not?" Naruto seemed to bring out her playful side. It had been a while since Sakura had, well, played a trick on someone.

"Because-" he deliberately nudged her arm "-it's supposed to be my job."

Sakura sputtered. A child, holding his mother's hand as they passed, giggled at the mess on the teenagers' faces. She glowered unhappily at Naruto, succeeding only in amusing him. He guffawed through his ice cream. "Oh, that's cute!" And he burst out laughing, taking her aback. He almost sounded cheerful again. _And all I had to do was humiliate myself,_ she thought.

Sakura unravelled the serviette around her ice cream cone and used it to wipe her mouth, but Naruto opted to methodically clean his face with his tongue. The occasional chuckle and snort escaped him. "I can't believe you just did that," she scowled, and of course, that only made him double over with renewed laughter. He continued until all he could manage was breathless gasps. "Feeling better?" she asked, swiftly averting her gaze so he could not see the relief sparkling in them.

He grinned. "A little bit, yeah."

"Only a little?"

"Okay, fine, a lot." Naruto leaned out on the railing and licked his ice cream. Sakura joined him. "I'm a survivor," he said shortly.

She didn't understand the sudden confession, but she nodded regardless.

"Do you think I'm weird, Sakura?"

Another nod.

"What about special?"

"Yes."

A crunching sound broke into the air as Naruto bit into his waffle cone. "Yeah... I think I'm special too."

They ate silently until they had finished their ice creams. Sakura crumpled her serviette into a tight ball. Her mouth opened but when no words came out, she closed it again. Naruto glanced questioningly at her. She caught his eye and shook her head. He shrugged. "Let's go home," she said. But Naruto did not move. "You want to stay?"

A cargo ship chugged lazily across the horizon. Naruto's eyes followed it. "I want to do something, Sakura." Almost immediately, alarms went off in her head. This guy was not afraid of anything; there was no telling _what_ he would do. She watched as he slipped the strap of her bag over his head and held it out to her. Warily, she took it.

_I hope he's not going to jump into the water..._

She stood back as Naruto cupped his hands to his mouth. She was not the only one paying attention; an elderly couple sitting on the bench behind had raised their heads. Sakura began to fidget with her bag's clasp.

A hoarse yell shattered her anxiety. It was wordless, it was loud, and it was infused with pain. It was coming from Naruto.

Everyone in the vicinity stopped to turn their heads toward the source of the noise. Sakura winced as Naruto's voice cracked. She stepped forward, intending to haul him away by force – but then it struck her that she shouldn't interrupt. If she truly wanted to help this stranger, she should let him vent. He needed to. And she had to let him, even if it meant becoming the new item of social ogling.

He sounded so _sad_. Agony ripped through the chords, slamming against a solid wall of hopelessness. The old lady on the bench tapped Sakura's hand and asked if her friend was alright. The girl told her she didn't know, because really, she didn't.

When, at last, Naruto ran out of breath, he let his head fall back with an exhausted sigh. Then he turned back to Sakura, gave her to the brightest grin she had seen all week, and reclaimed possession of her bag. She fell into step beside him, failing to summon the heart to tell him that they were going the long way.

"That felt good," he said cheerfully, slinging the pink bag over his shoulder.

It took several seconds for Sakura to find her voice. "You're crying." His cheeks were shining and so were his eyes.

He dashed his hand across his eyes. "Sand, that's all it is. Don't you get sand in your eyes too?"

The sun was just beginning to set, and as Sakura shielded her eyes against the bright glare, all she could think of was that Ino was not going to hear about this.

* * *

"Wash your face," Sakura had said, and somehow that had resulted in a shower. An hour-long shower. That Naruto had yet to get out of.

As was unexpectedly common, he was thinking again. It felt almost like an excuse now. But he wasn't trying to avoid anything – not anymore. It was futile to lapse into denial. The facts were that his life had just bellyflopped into the gates of hell. _Living_ hell.

But he could do something about that, couldn't he? Naruto himself was the most optimistic person he knew, and frankly, how long could he keep up this depressing outlook? Most importantly, he was not entirely alone. It was no privilege that he had been taken in by Kazuo and Sakura Haruno; it was a gift, a chance – whatever good things were called.

The showerhead gushed out warm water that plastered his hair to his head. Naruto gingerly sniffed at Sakura's shampoo before squeezing some to his hand. As he worked it into his locks, he was glad that Kiba was not present to tactfully tell him that he smelled like a girl. He liked to think that his friend was still with him, though. His partnering days with the Inuzuka had been memorable.

"We don't do normal," Kiba used to say, usually in retort to an ANBU's suggestion that an ambush be handled the 'normal, standardised way'. Naruto was now as close to normal as he could possibly get. If he had any complaints, it would be that this place was _too_ normal. All his life, Uzumaki Naruto had simply longed to be normal, to be pardoned of the blood lusting demon sealed in his navel. Now, he was staring 'normal' in the face. Except this was not how he had imagined it to be.

When he had let it all out at the harbour, his cry had not been of his dream to become Hokage, or a vow to prove himself to the world. He'd let his throat run sore until every drop of melancholy had spilled out. Sakura wanted him to be happy. _He_ wanted to be happy. Somehow, he had to manage. But he needed a purpose that was not the Kyuubi's rough demand to live.

Water slinked over his bare shoulders, trickling down his back, rolling down his front. Naruto breathed deeply and closed his eyes. His chakra was gradually returning to him, and although his reserves were not even halfway filled, he had enough to circulate through his system. He sensed disturbance rippling as he did so, and frowned. His eyes were closed, but his consciousness abruptly seemed darker. Snapping his eyes open, he half-expected to see the tall gates and the Kyuubi's crimson eyes behind them. All that greeted him was his hazy reflection in the glass, distorted by steam.

"Damn it," Naruto muttered. The Fox was taking every advantage of the weakened seal. Despite knowing this, he had to see for himself. He looked down at his stomach.

The visible seal was cracked, the dark marks invaded by jagged tears. Jiraiya would be distraught by the ruination of what he would call a 'masterpiece'. Naruto's will was the main force supporting the crumbling seal. His 'Will of Fire', Old Man Hokage often said. The aged man had also urged all Leaf-nin to keep their Will of Fire burning strongly. Naruto was now painfully aware of the wise teachings he had been denied when Sarutobi had passed away.

A dull knock on the door drew his attention. "Naruto? Are you alright in there?" Sakura called.

"Uh, yeah! Be out in a minute!"

"I'll leave a towel here for you, okay?"

_Now, where was I... oh, right._ Naruto ducked his head under the water and rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. He had figured it out.

He was going to assign himself one last mission as a shinobi: to restrain the Kyuubi from unleashing its wrath on the people of this time. Kazuo, Sakura; strangers he didn't even know. He would protect them by keeping the world's worst nightmare at bay.

"I'm going to be a hero," Naruto nodded as he turned off the water. "Believe it."

* * *

A/N: So much for trying to tone down the cut scenes. I think this is the most cut-scened chapter I've ever written! A modern Sakura is surprisingly hard to write.

If you haven't noticed already, the title and quotes of each chapter are taken from a song. I've chosen them more for the lyrics than anything, though. All of these songs are taken from my own music collection; I had too much fun choosing a song for each chapter.

Now that we have the foundations laid down, the next chapters can really get into the story.


	4. Where'd You Go?

**Chapter Four: Where'd You Go?**

~O~

Tired of sittin' and hatin' and makin' these excuses  
For why you're not around, and feeling so useless  
It seems one thing has been true all along  
You don't really know what you've got 'til it's gone  
_Where'd You Go? – Fort Minor_

~O~

If she wouldn't be burdened with the responsibility of finding a replacement, Sakura would have thrown her alarm clock out the window by now. What in the world was it doing, going off at – what was it? – _half past six in the morning?_

Once she had silenced it with an overly-harsh slap, she lay back and tried to remember if there was anything special going on today. There were no excursions, no tests to study for, no Ino to pester her... why had she set her alarm an hour earlier than usual?

There was a light knock on her bedroom door and Sakura turned her head to see her father stepping inside. She sat up, still hugging the plush toy she had gone to bed with. "Dad...?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Kazuo chuckled. It was rare for him to catch his daughter during one of her more juvenile moments. There were times when it slipped his mind that Sakura was still a teenager, a child like any other. "Good morning."

There was no point trying to fall back asleep. Sakura gave her clock an unhappy glare and rolled off her bed. The first thing that caught her attention when she looked over at Kazuo was his tie. Her father was not a 'tie person'. "What's this for?" she asked. Absently, she eased his hands away and began to correct his poor attempt.

"I have a conference to attend."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned something like that." Sakura paused to yawn behind her hand. "It's weird. I set my alarm early but I can't remember why."

Kazuo gave a light chuckle. "Are you sure?"

She raised her head to look quizzically at him. In the short moment of silence, they both heard a loud snore emanate from down the hallway, and Sakura sighed, remembering. "I'd better go wake him up, shouldn't I?" But Kazuo did not move from the door, and she knew he had something to say. "Dad?"

When he saw that he had her attention, he moved over to observe his reflection in her mirror. "What do you think of Naruto?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't mind him." She knew her answer would not satisfy her father, so she added, "He makes the house livelier." It was a nice change to have someone who could keep the empty silence at bay. Although she didn't particularly mind, it could get horribly lonely when her father was away.

"I like the kid too. He takes care of you."

That made her laugh. _Naruto_ take care of _her?_ No, that didn't click.

"You don't think so?"

She just gave him A Look.

Instead of trying to persuade her to see his view, Kazuo simply stated, "Well, I think so." And that was when Sakura understood that Uzumaki Naruto had somehow passed a test. Her father rarely complimented someone like that.

"Do you have something to say, Dad?" Being upfront came easily to her.

He regarded her from the corner of his eye. "That kid worries me. He's some sort of lost sheep; if you don't keep an eye on him you're going to find him stuck in a rubbish bin or something." He paused. "I'm going to ask you to look out for him, Sakura. And if you can, I'd like you to learn more about him. He's not telling me anything and I can't help him if I don't know what's going on."

His words stunned Sakura. She had never – _never_ – heard her father request such a thing. It was offhanded, but she sensed the underlying concern he held for Naruto. He was going so far for someone he had only known for a week and a half. "You didn't have to ask, you know," she said, meeting his gaze. "But I don't-"

"I'm a father, believe it or not. I have a daughter who is the same age as that stranger in the next room. It's hard to walk away." Kazuo smiled at Sakura's befuddled expression. "You were going to ask me why I'm doing this, weren't you?" He didn't wait for her response before making his way to the door, stopping to pat her head. "I'll be out late, so don't wait up."

She was about to open her mouth to indignantly inform him that she did not 'wait up', but he had already brushed past her and crossed the hallway. All Sakura could do was tenderly touch the spot her father had fondled, and smile.

_What am I, a little girl who still likes clinging to her father?_ she wondered ruefully.

The answer was yes, but she'd be damned if anyone would ever hear it from her.

Shaking her head, Sakura padded out of her room and knocked on the door to her immediate right. "Naruto, I'm coming in," she called, though she already knew that he would not have heard her.

She had taken exactly two steps into the room when she unexpectedly stubbed her toe on something hard and fell into a shallow pile of Naruto-smelling clothes.

"... _NARUTO!"_

The heap of snoring knucklehead immediately came alive in a disarray of gangly limbs and blankets. Naruto winced as his ears rang, and positively cringed when he saw Sakura waist-deep in the clothes he had neglected to fold. "M-morning," he grinned weakly.

Sakura ground her teeth together in an effort to hold back the tirade of commands she had already started conjugating in her head. Transforming what had been an organised and pristine study into a laundry basket was something only Naruto was capable of, and while he had only boarded in the room for three days it already reeked of his character. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Huffing, she pulled herself off the ground and, brushing herself off, sternly pointed a finger to the doorway behind her. "Breakfast. Now."

He quickly snapped into an uncoordinated salute despite his drowsiness, and hurried out. Sakura wondered if he even had any idea why she had woken him so early. He tended to forget things easily, even if she had reminded him only last night.

She grumbled and picked his clothes off the floor, dumping them onto the desk so she could fold them. How someone could make such a mess out of less than ten garments, she could not even fathom.

She could already hear clanging from downstairs when she returned to her room to change into her uniform. The noise reminded her that, really, _she_ should be the one preparing breakfast. She was quite sure that she did not drop pots on her feet and 'experiment' cereal with ice cream. Moreover, Naruto was still the guest, no matter how familiar she was with him. Sakura wouldn't have asked such a thing of him if he hadn't proposed the offer beforehand.

"You gotta let me do something around here, Sakura," he had said two days ago, when they had been squabbling over who should put the clothes out. "The deal was that I'd help out, remember? Just sit back and relax – I promise I'll make myself useful." And, that said, he had turned around and promptly knocked over the basket of pegs.

It was weird, somehow, to let someone else do the work for her. Since she had been ten years old she had been taking care of the house – and, arguably, her father. Sakura was not accustomed to a blonde teenager bumbling around in her kitchen, making food for her. Too bad she couldn't do anything about it. Her new friend was as stubborn as a haggling Ino.

Naruto was still working away at the counter when she went downstairs, but she spied a platter of sushi on the table. "Is this your first time making makizushi rolls?" Sakura wanted to know. Bits of rice and carrot fell out of the piece she had picked up. She hurriedly popped it in her mouth.

"I bet they'd look prettier if you guys had a bamboo mat," he defended. He was pressing another roll together with his bare hands, feasting on the ingredients that spilled out.

His keen senses detected an incoming projectile, and Naruto spun around to catch the rolled up package. "You were saying?" Sakura swallowed her admiration of her companion's reflexes. She had no idea that he could move like that.

He blinked at the bamboo mat in his hand. "Who said I didn't know where it was?" His bluff was not convincing at all. Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm serious!" he insisted.

"Sure, Naruto." Sakura made a dismissive motion with her hand. She turned away briefly, but Naruto still managed to see her stifle a yawn. Suddenly humbled, he quietly slid the mat under the sushi and went back to work.

The sound of running water had him turning around again. "You know, I was going to wash up afterwards," he said, frowning. He had no idea where she had unearthed that jam-smeared plate from, but he did register that she was rinsing it out. His sushi, however, lay lonesome on the table.

He dropped everything and pulled her away from the sink just as she reached for Kazuo's coffee-stained mug. "Eat," he said arrestingly, steering her back to breakfast. She obediently lowered herself into the nearest chair and pulled the plate closer. "Good girl," Naruto approved, before returning to his task. If there was one thing he had noticed during his stay, it was that the girl was a natural housewife. Which was the problem here.

"And drink this too." He plopped a glass down in front of her. She eyed it dubiously, turning a sceptical eye on him.

"Sushi and milk? Seriously?" she questioned.

"Sure, why not?" He chucked a piece of sushi into his mouth and followed it up with a long gulp of milk straight from the carton. He bowed majestically after he had swallowed, flourishing his hand as if he had just digested a sword.

Sakura clapped amusedly. She was too used to him; it felt like she had known him for a lot longer than a few weeks. He was a welcome companion. She _finally_ had someone she could beat at chess.

"Aren't you having any?" she asked once she had finished her meal.

"I was eating the stuff that fell out. There was a lot." Naruto belched out a fake burp. Sakura tried unsuccessfully to keep a straight face.

"So what are you making then?"

"More rolls, can't you see?"

"Mou, don't make too much. We're not going to be able to finish them." Then she saw him pack them into a small pink box. Sakura tilted her head thoughtfully. That box...

Naruto closed the lid firmly. "That's why you eat them for lunch. Aren't I smart? I found this in the cupboard." He was quite pleased with his ingenuity.

_The bamboo mat was in the cupboard too_, Sakura had half a mind to point out, but she found that she couldn't take her eyes off the bento box that had been pressed into her hands.

Naruto ducked his head down to look at her face. "Something wrong?"

"I haven't used this lunch box since third grade," she ended up mumbling, grimacing at how ungrateful she sounded. That wasn't what she had meant to say. So this was what it was like to have the roles reversed. No wonder Naruto was so strangely touched whenever she habitually tried to mother him.

Naruto looked curiously at Sakura. She sounded a little weird. He didn't see the big deal; he'd often been bullied into making Ero-sennin's lunch. It seemed different to Sakura, though. He didn't think his sushi looked _that_ appalling. But come to think of it, he had been in her shoes before.

He brought a hand up to rub his cheek. "Well... you're welcome," he said uncertainly, picking interestedly at a scrap of seaweed clinging to the palm of his hand.

Remembering where she was, Sakura raised her head and nodded. "Yeah... thanks, Naruto." She realised she sounded a little flippant, and smiled warmly. He beamed back. It was a little awkward, how they were caught up by a simple lunch. So what if she had been making her own sandwiches since first grade? She shook her head. "It's about time to leave. I'll, um, go pack my bag." With that, she escaped upstairs before anything more could be said.

God!

"_I like the kid too. He takes care of you..."_

Sakura kneaded her forehead. Ino was going to laugh till she was purple. _And that's exactly why I'm not going to tell her_, she decided as she stuffed her pencil case into her satchel. That was something to add to the list of things she had kept from Ino, along with that day at the harbour. If she thought the scene in the kitchen had been odd she didn't have the words to describe Naruto's attitude that day.

"Well, he's just... special," she said aloud. She almost snorted at her own words – 'special' didn't quite cover it. He'd gone as far as to _make her lunch_ – honestly!

She was a tad bit annoyed with herself when she glanced up at the mirror and saw a mellow glimmer of elation in her eyes.

Sparing a couple of seconds to make sure that she had packed the right books (and carefully stored her bento box in the safest compartment), Sakura made her way back downstairs, and immediately spotted Naruto crouched by the door. "Ready to go?"

"In a minu – damn it!" Naruto ground his teeth, shooting his sneakers a spiteful glare. Which idiot had invented these shoe-whatsits? Something starting with L – licks, that had to be it. Shoelicks. It definitely felt like he was trying to tie a tongue into a knot. "Sakura," he pleaded, catching her in the middle of combing her hair.

"Are you ready yet? It's already seven and we still have to walk to Ino's." She vigorously attacked a knot in her tresses.

"I need help with my shoelicks."

She stopped mid-brush. "Your what?" He lifted a sneaker-clad foot, appealing to her with his eyes. She wrinkled her nose at the declining state he had already reduced it to. A voice somewhere in the back of her mind constantly reminded her that she had dedicated an entire two hours teaching him how to tie shoelaces – she should have drilled the correct term into his memory while she was at it. She was about to reprimand him for forgetting so easily, but noticed his furrow brow and slightly agitated movements. After some thought she closed her mouth and moved forward to help him.

As usual, Naruto bounded ahead to press the button for the traffic light while Sakura locked the front door. He was like an overgrown child. Seeing someone as energetic as him was refreshing in some sort of ambiguous sense. It made her feel lighter somehow.

She joined him. "We'll go straight and then turn right at the second street. Make sure you remember as we go."

"You're not coming?" The troubled tenor in his voice hastened her response.

"No, no – I'm coming with you. But you still have to learn the way for yourself. What if I can't come one day?"

"Oh. Haha, I didn't think of that..."

Naruto gazed distantly at the blinking light of the red pedestrian figure across the road and wondered if he was thinking too selfishly. Of course Sakura couldn't always be with him. He couldn't stay with the Harunos forever. Overdependence was a bad, bad thing, he'd learned. There was a big world out there and sooner or later he'd have to face it on his own. He'd lost faith in wishful thinking.

_Ah, there we go... Sakura's already walking off without me._

"Mou, don't just stand there, Naruto. The light's already changing!"

He blinked stupidly at her.

Standing in the middle of the crossing, Sakura huffed and quickly backtracked. She grabbed his hand and tugged him onto the road. "Wake up, baka. Do I really have to do everything for you?"

"Sorry. I'll, um, pay more attention next time."

"Next time?" she demanded, her voice lowering as she gave the drivers an apologetic wave. "Did you grow paranoid of cars because of my dad or something?"

"Probably not just because of Kazuo, but yeah, sort of," Naruto admitted, surprising both of them. "I'm okay with crossing the road though!" he added quickly. He didn't want Sakura to think that he was a wimp.

"If you say so," she smiled hesitantly. She should have been easier on him. Naruto was from a conflicted country after all.

A slight pressure at her hand snapped her chain of thought and Sakura suddenly remembered that she was still holding Naruto's hand. She was about to pull away when he spoke. "I saw a mother hold her kid's hand while they crossed the road the other day. It's normal for mothers to do that, isn't it?"

"Didn't your mum do that too?" Intuition kicked in too late to censor the insensitive question and Sakura looked up to see a wistful smile on Naruto's face. There was no anger or sorrow radiating from him but she still quietly murmured an apology.

Shrugging, he gave her a small smile, saying nothing. All at once she knew that he didn't want to talk about it and understood that he was not upset. Sakura returned his smile and squeezed his hand. "I'm not your mother," she said slowly, "but I can walk with you."

"To make sure I don't get lost?" he joked.

"Why else?"

"That stings." Naruto pretended to nurse his heart. "But hey, thanks for coming with me, Sakura. I know you're tired." He smiled down at her. "And thanks for finding me a job. I don't know what I would have done without you." His gratitude was so sincere that she almost did a double-take.

Sakura gave a half-nervous laugh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, I do."

"Huh?"

"You would have ended up headfirst in a bin."

* * *

"Yo!"

Having grown accustomed to overloud voices, Sakura barely flinched when Ino flopped onto the bench beside her with a grin, pyjamas and all. "'Yo'? Someone's in a good mood."

"Well, you see, I got a full nine hours of beauty sleep, unlike _someone_."

"Thanks for the sympathy."

"You're most welcome."

A mortified "Of course not, sir!" disrupted them, and Sakura grimaced. Earlier, Naruto had been dragged off to be... interrogated by Inoichi Yamanaka. Naruto was red-faced, suggesting that the majority of the content seemed to have very little to do with workplace agreements.

"Want some?"

Sakura lifted her head off Ino's shoulder and peered into the can her friend was waggling in front of her face. "What is it?"

Ino paused to read the label. "Iced coffee."

It was soon snatched out of her hand. "Mine."

Ino looked around her parents' shop while Sakura practically inhaled the beverage – the girl could live off the stuff, seriously. "They've been at it ever since you arrived." She nodded in Naruto's direction. "Are you sure you don't want to go rescue your boyfriend, Sakura?"

The answer did not come until half a minute later, accompanied by an empty can. "For starters, your dad wouldn't have so much to say if you hadn't pounced on Naruto and given him the wrong impression." Sakura shuddered just by recalling how hard Naruto had hit the pavement when Ino had thrown herself at him the moment he had set foot into the store. "And for God's sake, he's not my boyfriend, Pig."

"Not jealous at all, I see." Ino sounded disappointed. "I don't get why you're not interested; he's quite compact."

Sakura turned. "_Compact?_" she echoed.

"And quite the gentleman, too. He held me up when we were falling," Ino went on. Her eyes had a distinct sparkle to them, immediately setting alarms thundering through Sakura's lethargy.

"I thought you said you weren't interested, you pig!"

"Oooh, getting defensive are we? Looks like we're getting somewhere."

Sakura let out a sigh. For someone whose social life was a near flirting marathon, Ino seemed peculiarly keen to set her friend's sights on the new guy. "Lay it off. I just don't want you playing him around."

"You know," Ino's thoughtful tone gave Sakura the impression that she was being surveyed. "You're quite protective of him."

The offhanded comment threw her off. Sakura found herself staring at her blonde friend with wide eyes. Then she found her bearings and shrugged facetiously. "Dad told me to look after him," she replied steadily.

Ino narrowed her eyes. _You look after too many things, Sakura_... She stood. "Come upstairs with me. We've got a good half an hour before we have to leave for school. I'll show you the new straightener I got."

Sakura traipsed after her, eyeing the mane of long blonde hair. "You don't _need_ a straightener, Ino."

"Sure I do. _You're_ the one who doesn't need it." Ino poked her head into the kitchen. Her family had been living above their flower shop for as long as Sakura could remember. "Hey Mum. Look who's here."

Ino's mother was a slender woman and it was easy to see whose features her daughter took after. She was much less outspoken, though. Sakura had known her since preschool and loved her for everything she was. Hana had even attended the parent-teacher interviews on the nights that Kazuo hadn't been able to make it. Sakura modelled every good mother after her.

Hana looked up from the oven, her face brightening. "Welcome home, Sakura," she said, and smiled. It was a running joke. Sakura had camped over at the Yamanakas so many times that it was practically her second home.

"Sakura bought Loverboy over," said Ino.

"It's Naruto," her friend corrected.

"Your boyfriend, Sakura?" Unlike her husband, Hana was much more outgoing. She would come down like thunder if her daughter stepped out of line, but most of the time she willingly listened to her daughter's galling descriptions of every mentionable boy she had met throughout the day.

Sakura's face burned. Ino was one thing, her mother was something else. When Hana said it, it was actually _embarrassing. _"No! He's not – I – Naruto is –"

Both Yamanakas laughed. "Breathe, Forehead," Ino sniggered.

After enduring slow, agonising minutes of torment, Sakura was finally permitted to escape to Ino's room and collapse on the bright mattress. Although she had buried her face in the blanket the familiar footsteps informed her that Ino had pursued her prey. Sakura turned her head. "You're evil," she said accusingly, eyes slits. "Both of you."

"Hey, it's not my fault you react so hilariously to stuff like that."

"Only to your mother," she insisted adamantly.

Ino rolled her eyes teasingly. "What's the difference?" She sat down on the edge of the bed. It took almost an entire minute of silence for Sakura to look up and realise that she was being studied with thoughtful eyes.

"What?" she sighed.

"You're not over it."

"'It'?" But Sakura knew exactly what her friend was talking about. They'd gone through this many times.

"Him," Ino needlessly elaborated.

"I am too."

"Then why aren't you considering other guys?"

"What happened to showing me the straightener?"

"Oh dear, aren't you straight, Sakura?"

"Of course I-" She caught herself at the last moment. "That was so lame you should be ashamed."

But that had cracked the ice. Ino gave a short laugh and finally turned her demanding gaze away. It was unnerving looking into Ino's eyes; after too long if felt like they were no longer looking at you, but _through_ you. Naruto had the same effect as well, Sakura mused.

Shaking her head, she fell back down – she didn't remember when she had sat up in the rigid pose she had held for the past half-minute. "That was uncalled for."

"Was it?" Ino was changing into her uniform. "I thought you would have seen it coming."

Sakura sat up again. Now things made a lot more sense. "Please don't tell me you were really trying to set me up with Naruto." She just received a cheeky, unabashed grin. "Ino! I can't believe you!"

"What? He's cute enough." A thread of seriousness snaked into Ino's tone. "He'd be good for you, Sakura. You should start socialising again."

When Ino got serious, she really _was_ serious. Sakura knew she had to deter her friend before any more of her social life was picked apart. "Ino, it's been over three months. Do I look like the type to mope around for that long?"

She knew that Ino only put up the judgmental expression to rile her but she couldn't stop herself from being baited. "No," the other girl said after an exaggerated pause. "You look – no, I _know_ you're the type to keep things to yourself."

Sometimes, it sucked having a best friend who could read you like a book. But Ino had misread this time. Sakura had no idea what had given her the impression that she was still hung over from Ken. _She_ thought she was perfectly fine. In fact, she felt great.

She told Ino that, but the latter only smiled distractedly and patted her back, telling her that it was her life, and Sakura knew she had given up. For now. It still clouded her thoughts, though.

And then a loud voice shattered her concentration. Sakura was chagrined to hear her name yelled out by an excited-sounding Naruto.

"Lookit, lookit!" He sprang at her the moment he spotted her descending down the stairs. Sakura almost sneezed as a half-crumpled daffodil was thrust into her face. Behind it, Naruto was beaming, and behind _him_, Inoichi looked amused. "Boss gave me a free flower!"

Bemused, Sakura looked toward Inoichi for an explanation. The man simply shrugged. "Don't look at me."

She gently pulled Naruto's hand away so she could see his face. "That's great, Naruto." He looked so overwhelmingly happy that she chose her words particularly carefully, as if she were speaking to a child. "But it's just a flower. I'm sure you've seen one before."

"Yeah, but this is the first time someone's given me one," he chirped brightly.

Sakura's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. It seemed to her that Naruto had missed out on so many things. At that moment, she was filled with a powerful sense of gratitude towards the small things that she took for granted. Naruto handled his flower with utmost care, smelling it and stroking the petals. It was hard to believe that he carried so much pain with him. Being a survivor of war must be harsh.

"Here you go."

She blinked. Once again, the flower had filled up three quarters of her vision. "For me?"

"Yep!"

Sakura hesitantly accepted it, admiring it for it moment before looking back at Naruto. "But it's the first flower you've received. Don't you want to keep it?"

His elation had toned down a little, and as if he knew he had acted quite silly, Naruto scratched his head, laughing. "You just became the first girl I've ever given a flower to."

She was not nearly as stunned by this; many adolescent boys were too proud to tolerate being seen with flowers. Sakura was warmed by Naruto's kindness. He really was a good person. She smiled. "Make sure you work hard, okay, Naruto?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Inoichi pointed his new recruit to the door which led to the storeroom. Naruto gave her a thumbs-up before disappearing inside.

Breathing in the daffodil's fresh scent, Sakura looked over her shoulder, still smiling. "Ready to go?"

Ino slung her bag over her shoulder and gave a brief nod. "It's your life, Forehead," she reminded.

"Mou, you're so boring today, Oinky."

"_What_ did you call me?"

* * *

It didn't take long for Naruto to settle into a comfortable routine. On weekdays, he would get up early and prepare for work. He didn't know when it started and he wasn't sure if he or Sakura had brought it up before, but it had become an unspoken rule that whoever got up earlier made breakfast. Naruto often tried to fill that role but was usually beaten to the punch. Sometimes he had to wonder if Sakura did it on purpose.

After breakfast, they would walk down to the flower shop together; if Kazuo happened to be home at the time he would drive them – but that didn't happen a lot. Unsurprisingly, Naruto preferred to walk. Sakura didn't seem to mind waiting at the shop. She would sit there, watching him work, or go upstairs and find Ino, but she never failed to accompany him. He waited for her to leave him on his own, expecting the day to arrive within the week – but Sakura continued to walk with him, and never once uttered a word of complaint.

"You make me feel really bad," he said to her on the weekend while he watched her examine some carrots.

She inspected him with a faint spark of amusement. "Not this again."

"No, really! You and Kazuo are doing all these things for me. You buy me clothes, you feed me, find me a job, make time for me... and I haven't given you guys anything. I..." Naruto forgot what he was going to say when his eyes flickered to Sakura's face. "Why are you smiling?"

"I'm smiling? No I'm not." She reached across him for a plastic bag.

"You were smiling, I saw it!"

"You're seeing things, Naruto," she said lightly. She flashed him a grin.

"You just did it again!"

"Why, what's so special about a smile?"

He paused to think. "I dunno."

This time, Sakura burst into laughter. An elderly woman in an adjacent aisle squinted at the young couple and began muttering to her husband, who was clearly more absorbed in picking grapes. Controlling her giggles, Sakura tugged on her companion's jacket and motioned for him to follow her. Frowning, he went back for their trolley and lengthened his strides until he had caught up with her.

"I'll tell you something, Naruto?"

He waited.

"You're just special." And she smiled.

He didn't even bother asking after that. The Harunos definitely saw something in him. He hoped they weren't wrong.

At the shop Naruto was mostly responsible for stacking boxes and taking care of the plants. Ino's mother sometimes took him to one side and taught him the properties of each flower. He absorbed the knowledge with surprising enthusiasm, and even borrowed a notepad from Sakura to catalogue the lessons. No one, not even himself, would have fathomed that Uzumaki Naruto had a passion for gardening.

It took Inoichi many frustrating hours but Naruto eventually learned to use what they called a mobile phone. He had been given one of Ino's, apparently one of many. It was no bigger than the size of his palm with a cover that flipped open to reveal a small screen and keypad. And it was pink. Although he understood that it had been given to him to ensure that he didn't get lost on a delivery again, Naruto's pride kept him from using it too frequently. Besides, after he had confided in her, Sakura took him to a different part of the town every day on the way home, and he soon developed a general understanding of the area.

Naruto liked his job. The Yamanakas were friendly enough, despite the first impression he had received from Inoichi. The man was not much of a talker most of the time and that suited Naruto just fine. He enjoyed working alongside Inoichi in the greenhouse; Ino's father reminded him of one of the jounins he had cooperated with during the war. The two of them gradually built up a mutual sense of respect for each other.

It still surprised Naruto to think back and realise how easily he had been accepted, especially by the adults. It had taken him many years of effort to gain the acknowledgement of his village. These people didn't know that he bore a menacing demon inside him – and he was determined to keep it that way. He would sooner die than let the monster attack these people.

He knew who he was, though. He remembered where he was from, that sunny village he had grown up in. It was not easy for him to put his experiences behind him. Who could just shrug off over a decade's worth of memories at will? Certainly not Naruto. He continued to toss and turn at night, sleeping badly when he most needed his rest. He was a veteran of war.

Once, suspended in a realm between unconsciousness and waking, Naruto had heard the door open at night. He knew it was Kazuo, come to investigate the moans that even the blonde boy knew he was issuing. Yet the man did not mention it the next morning and Naruto did not bring it up. When he returned to his room later the same day, he found a small potted plant by the window. Noticing that his dreams were disturbing him less and less, he went up to Kazuo and thanked him. The man arched an eyebrow and gave no comment, but Sakura had confirmed that she had seen her father enter the study. Grown men had strange ways of expressing themselves, Naruto reflected.

_And maybe_, he continued to muse, _I can get used to a life like this._

Still, if there was one thing he could not ward away, it was the feeling of safety that was gradually enveloping him in a drowsy embrace. There was no need to arm himself with nonexistent weapons and he no longer regarded every stranger with suspicion when he was walking alone. He couldn't help but relax.

But it was so _peaceful_ here that Naruto could not shake off the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.

* * *

Sakura was getting used to walking out of class at the end of the school day to the sensation of Ino nudging her arm. Moreover, the sight of Naruto leaning against the far wall, flipping through the small notepad she had lent him, was becoming awfully familiar. He was always there waiting for her regardless of all conditions. Even weather.

"Mou, you shouldn't have come if you didn't have an umbrella," Sakura chastised as she hurried over and ushered him under her umbrella. "I'm not hauling you home if you get yourself sick."

Sheepishly wiping his face, Naruto grinned. "I can take a bit of rain. After all, I'm a real man!"

In response Sakura just rolled her eyes, teasing him. He took her bag and, being taller, reached for the umbrella as well. "How long are you going to keep this up?" she asked him.

"Mm? Keep what up?"

"This. Coming over to walk me home every day. Don't you get tired after work?"

Naruto chuckled as if the mere notion was ridiculous. "Let's just say I don't run out of steam as easily as you think."

"I know you promised, but must you take it so seriously?"

"I take all my promises seriously," he told her in a levelled tone. He watched her from the corner of his eye. "Unless you don't want me to come anymore. I'll stop if that's what you want."

They waited at the crossing. Sakura thoughtfully pressed the button. "No," she said after a while, "I like having you around."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised," she laughed.

He gave a small smile. "I can't help it. Not a lot of people can put up with me. Even my friends thought I was annoying." He said it cheerfully, but Sakura heard a hint of nostalgia, and lowered her head. She wondered what had become of Naruto's friends. With all her heart, she hoped that they had not met the same fate as his parents. He had through so much already.

"Step back!"

With no idea what was going on, Sakura felt herself pushed back, away from the road. Naruto swung the opened umbrella in front of them just as a bus swept past and sprayed water all over the pavement. The girls who had been walking behind them shrieked as their socks were soaked.

"Hehe, lucky I saw this on TV." Naruto shook their umbrella and brought it over their heads once more.

"My hero," she praised him. Not for the first time, Sakura was glad that Naruto was around. He was such a wild card.

The rain came down heavier, beating down on their umbrella. The two of them huddled closer together and walked a little faster. Sakura could see no further than five metres in the heavy downpour and relied solely on Naruto's hand on her elbow, trusting him to know where he was going. He did.

Kazuo's car was parked outside the house and they entered to find the man sitting on the couch, rifling through papers in his briefcase. He looked up when the two teenagers came in. "Is it still raining?"

"It's pouring." Sakura grimaced as she peeled off her wet socks. The hem of her skirt was drenched from the water she had kicked up in her fast walk. The bag Naruto handed her was surprisingly dry, though.

Naruto shook his head like a wet dog. "Where do I put the umbrella?"

"Spread it in the bathtub to dry. And take a shower while you're at it, Naruto. Leave your clothes in the basket." There was a tone of authority in Sakura's voice that he didn't dare defy. She stopped by her father's side on her way upstairs. "Are you working a night shift today?"

Kazuo gave a nod which his daughter returned before climbing the stairs. Although he had witnessed many of these silent exchanges between the two, Naruto was still taken aback by the absurd relationship the Harunos shared. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that they were in constant disagreement. But no, he could tell that Kazuo doted on his daughter. Naruto was a little envious of Sakura – he was envious of anyone who had a stable family.

"You'll be mistaken for a coat rack if you stand there too long, kid." Naruto returned to the present and felt Kazuo's eyes on him.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," he grumbled.

"I call lots of people that." The man brushed past him and leaned over to put his shoes on. Naruto turned to watch him.

"You don't call Sakura that."

"My head would be a little wobbly on my shoulders if I did. Sakura doesn't like being treated like a child." If he had been expecting a hesitant response from his audience, Naruto was disappointed. Kazuo didn't even miss a beat. "I'm off. Take that shower sometime this year, alright, kid?"

"Hai, hai." Just as he turned away and felt chilly wind breezing through the open door, Naruto remembered the item in his trousers pocket and quickly latched onto the door. "Wait! I've got something to give you."

A sceptical look adorned Kazuo's roughened features. It was as close as curiosity as the man could get. Naruto found what he was looking for and brandished a crumpled envelope. Putting down his case, Kazuo took it and had a look inside. His eyebrows rose higher.

"My first pay check." Naruto laced his hands together behind his head and smiled. "I said I'd pay rent. I'm not sure how much it's worth here but it's something, ne?"

What followed was a stretch of meditative silence during which Naruto found himself the subject of Kazuo's intense gaze. Just when he was beginning to shuffle his feet around, uncomfortable, the man's eyes softened. "All of it's here, isn't it?" He sighed when Naruto nodded quickly, too eager to please. Sometimes Kazuo had to stop and marvel at the alien he had picked up. "You're not going to last a day out there by yourself, kid."

Naruto blinked, and then folded his arms over his chest. "Oi, I _can_ take care of myself, Kazuo."

"Really? I had no idea. Here." Kazuo extracted a couple of notes from the thin bundle and tucked the envelope into Naruto's hand. The boy fumbled it. By the time he safely regained his balance and looked up, Kazuo was already closing the door again.

"Kazuo, I wanted you to-"

"Keep some for yourself, Naruto," the doctor said gruffly. He chuckled when his charge continued to protest, and reached back to ruffle the spiky blonde head. "You're a good kid. Now go get dry. I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto nodded without knowing why, and when he came to his senses again he found himself staring at the grainy pattern of wood on the door. A second of clueless thoughts later, he wrenched the door open and bolted out. He was too late. Kazuo's dark vehicle was nowhere to be – no; it had stopped at the lights. Jumping over the low hedge of bushes, Naruto stood on the footpath and cupped his hands to his mouth.

"Bye Kazuo!" he hollered down the street. The light changed and Kazuo's car began to move. Naruto slowly lowered his hands, disappointed.

He jumped as if shocked when a loud honk sounded. Grinning, his head snapped back up. Kazuo's arm was raised in the air in a vague wave. Naruto brightened and furiously waved back, standing in the rain until he could no longer see the car. The rain had receded a little but the droplets of water still plastered his already-damp hair to his face. Naruto swept his bangs back, smiling widely.

Sakura was standing at the door, shaking her head at his antics. "Take a shower, you," she said, throwing a towel at his face as he came up the steps.

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Naruto remembered at the last moment to take the umbrella. He left it in the bathtub first and went into his room for a change of clothes. Sakura had organised his belongings into drawers for him. It had surprised him at first to find his underwear sorted as well. He'd had many awkward run-ins with Sakura before but it seemed the girl was impartial to folding his boxers. She must take care of Kazuo's laundry as well.

Thinking in the shower had become one of the stranger habits Naruto had adopted here. He adored the seemingly inexhaustible warm water. He hummed as he lathered soap onto his body.

He was steadily gathering confidence. He had a job, a roof over his head, and more than just the bare necessities. Now, it was actually plausible when he thought of his predicament and told himself that he could do it, that he could survive in this world. _As if the great Uzumaki would give up,_ he grinned.

Of course, he owed Kazuo and Sakura. If it hadn't been for them, Naruto would be out there in the rain, huddled with the homeless. The blonde had to admit that he had luck on his side. Maybe Kami had taken pity on him. During the war, Naruto had coaxed himself into a guarded mindset. He tried not to grow too attached to his comrades, painfully aware of how much it would hurt him if he returned home without them. It was like losing a limb each time – and he didn't have that many to spare.

As such, the fondness Naruto had for his new friends felt somewhat foreign and strange. It awakened the trusting child that had been forced into the backdrop. Being around people who were warm-hearted and accepting melted any barriers he had thrown up to protect himself.

They made him feel _alive_.

_Is it wrong of me to think this way?_ he questioned of the darkness in his mind. He had friends in his own time, people he had fought through life and death with. Sasuke, Gaara, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin... weren't his bonds with them supposed to take first priority?

Naruto thrust his head under the running water and shook it to clear his mind.

He turned off the water and got dressed. His stomach growled and fantasies of hot ramen filled his mind. There were still a few packets of shrimp ramen left... His mouth practically watered. Ramen on a cold day was absolute bliss.

He would have gone on to make his dream meal, too, if he hadn't emerged in the hallway and heard a distinct groan from behind Sakura's bedroom door. Finding the sound rather out of character, Naruto stopped for a moment, listening.

Groan. Thud. Groan. Thud.

His ear was pressed against the wood now. What was she doing in there?

"So... hard...!"

Dear lord... Naruto had to bite the collar of his shirt to keep himself silent. In broad daylight? Had she forgotten that he was there as well, or did she not mind? He hadn't thought Sakura was that kind of girl. Looks could be so deceiving.

After a particularly loud groan, he swallowed and rapped his knuckles on the door. "Err, Sakura?"

Things quietened down on the other side. "What?" she called back. _She doesn't even sound embarrassed..._

"I-I'm not sure if you should be doing this."

"... Doing what?"

"Kazuo's not going to like it... I'm not gonna tell him! But, umm... he won't like it." Naruto felt his face burning. He could hear how lame he was. He was making a fool out of himself. Again.

"Doing _what_?"

There was no mistaking it now. She was annoyed. He wet his lips, feeling ill at ease. He probably should have left it. He really had a knack for getting himself in these situations, didn't he?

"You know," he laughed unconvincingly, "having sex in the house."

Complete and utter silence.

"WHAT?"

Naruto's spine snapped him into a rigid stance and he heard himself shouting. "I'm sorry! I know you don't want anyone to know because it's really, um, embarrassing but I just thought that Kazuo wouldn't approve and-"

He was still babbling when the door banged open. Not registering Sakura's livid blush, he rambled on, unable to stop, as she raised a pillow over her head and smacked him. She was shrieking as she continued to beat him to the floor; he couldn't even make out what she was saying. "I'm sorry!" he yelled each time she hit him.

On his sixteenth apology, Sakura threw the fluffy weapon down at him and hoarsely sucked in a breath. Naruto cautiously peeked up at her, holding the pillow in front of him as a shield. "I'm sorry?" he repeated uncertainly. Her glare was hot enough to set his hair on fire. "Ne, say something... you're scaring me."

She looked ready to blow up. Then she breathed deeply and untangled her fingers from her hair. "I can't believe you!" she all but shouted, and stomped back into her room.

Naruto looked around the door. "Is he under the bed?" he whispered. Sakura's glare had him backtracking. "Gomen, gomen... so you weren't having-"

"No!" Seeing him flinch, Sakura grimaced and further regulated her breathing. Her cheeks were burning up. "Naruto, just – no."

"... Oh."

They stared at each other, dragging out the silence.

And then they exploded in laughter. Naruto's knees hit the ground and he wrapped his arms around his stomach, guffawing uncontrollably. Looking across, he could see specks of tears shining on Sakura's face. "'Oh'," she cackled, gasping for air. She slapped his arm. "That's all you could come up with?"

"Was I supposed to say 'yay'?" He fanned his face, still snorting, and sat up. He smiled over at Sakura, catching her respective grin.

She swept her hair away from her face and shook her head again. "I can't believe you," she repeated, giggling.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. Although it had been entirely accidental, he enjoyed making Sakura laugh. She was always so... mature. Her carefree laughter was rewarding. He smiled gently. "So what were you doing if you weren't having a hormonal rush?" he asked, keeping a straight face.

Her eyes shone with humour when they flickered up at his. Stifling another round of laughter, Sakura picked up a small block of wood and tossed it into his lap. He looked over it with curiosity. It was rectangular in shape and slightly larger than his hand. Turning it over, he saw that one side had been clumsily chipped. He looked up, arching an eyebrow.

"It's hard," Sakura said defensively.

"What's it for?"

"School. I'm doing woodcraft."

There was a small tool on the floor. It was a thin blade braced by an equally meagre wooden handle. He could instantly tell that it was weak metal, not even on par with the second-rate kunai that he had been tricked into buying during his pre-genin days. Naruto brought it up to the light to inspect. His nose twitched. A copper-like trace clung to the knife blade. "Did you hurt yourself, Sakura?" he frowned.

For a moment Sakura was puzzled. Her expression became one of surprise when she looked down at her left hand. "Oh. Oops," she muttered, looking around for tissue. "This is all your... Naruto?"

She felt his fingers close on her wrist as he tugged her hand closer so that he could see the wound. Glancing at his face, she saw that his frown had deepened. His eyes were alight with vague concern. Sakura watched him with dull interest. Her father had made the same face when she had returned home with a bloodied knee in second grade.

"It's not too deep," Naruto was murmuring. He pulled her to her feet, taking her by surprise. Sakura stared at his hand, wrapped loosely around her forearm. He was unexpectedly strong. Barely ten seconds later, she greeted at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror. "I'll be back. Run it under cold water," he told her.

"Mou, it's not that..." He had already turned and left. "... serious." Sighing, Sakura turned on the tap and washed off the blood, staining the water a peachy colour. Naruto was acting like he was the medical expert here. _She_ was the one whose father was a doctor.

Despite the amount of blood, it was only a shallow cut, not even visible unless Sakura stretched her hand. A small smile broke through her demeanour when Naruto carefully applied a plaster to her index finger. "Am I allowed to go now, doc?" she teased.

He pretended to consider. "You're free to go – but remember, if your finger shows any signs of falling off, you must come to me immediately."

"My, that's serious, isn't it? Now you've freaked me out. Can I stay overnight?" Sakura laughed shortly. She held up her finger. "Thanks."

"I didn't wrap it too tight, did I?" he asked as they walked back to her room.

"Yes. It's so tight my finger is falling off already." She elbowed him in the side. "I'm glad you didn't pass out on me."

Naruto tucked his long limbs into a cross-legged position. "Bah! I don't faint that easily," he dismissed assertively. He leaned forward when Sakura picked up the wood and blade again. "What are you making?"

"Totoro." She was scowling as she twisted the small knife.

"I see, I see," he nodded wisely, pretending that he understood.

She wasn't fooled. "It's a character from a movie."

"Ah."

He sat there and watched her work for a few minutes, making small talk to fill in the silence. Sakura made little progress; her hand often slipped and lessened the pressure on the knife, causing the blade to graze over the surface and slide off. He wasn't surprised that she had hurt herself. After another near injury that he had to grab her hand to prevent, Naruto gave in.

"You shouldn't hold your knife like that. And don't put your hand there; you're going to stab yourself soon." He reached over and adjusted her grip. "Place your thumb over the back of the hilt – a little higher; yeah, that's it." Satisfied, he sat back. He cocked his head when Sakura continued to look fixedly at him, and made a small, encouraging motion with one hand. "Keep going."

Both items were pushed onto him. "Mind helping?" Sakura asked sweetly. But beneath the sugary voice, she was intrigued. She had learned various things about Uzumaki Naruto during his stay and what she had observed put her mind to work. Naruto was not as scatterbrained as he let on. His fast reactions, sensitive perceptions and skill with utensils factored together with his occasional solemnity... it disturbed her to recognise them as traits of a weathered soldier.

Realising that he could not bring himself to turn her down, Naruto resignedly accepted the request. "What am I making?"

She plopped a small plush toy that he had seen on her bed. It looked like an overweight hamster. "You don't have to make the whole thing for me. Is it alright if you carve out the general shape?"

"Nah, it's fine." Afraid that the blade would snap under too much force, Naruto was forced to patiently whittle down the wood. "This is really bad metal," he commented when he finally managed to sever the first corner. He winced, seeing Sakura's wide eyes. "Did I cut off too much?"

She shook negatively and he continued. Naruto rapidly developed distaste for his assignment. The wood was tougher than the knife was capable of. Determined, he became absorbed in the crafting process and did not even notice when Sakura left the room.

He was so engrossed in his work that he did not realise he had unconsciously been leaking wind chakra into the knife until the hilt shredded beneath his hand.

At first he cursed and nursed his bleeding palm, the result of his directly grabbing the blade. Feeling a sense of déjà vu he quickly stepped into the bathroom and held his bleeding hand over the basin. He applied pressure on the wound, hoping to treat it without having to worry Sakura. But when he took a closer look, he discovered his skin was mending itself right in front of his eyes.

Naruto impatiently waited for the gash to close, then washed his hands and returned to the room. There, he sat and tried to gather his thoughts. He had known – and hoped – that his chakra would return, but had been too concentrated on his new life to give it any thought for the past week. Now that his rejuvenation abilities seemed to have recovered, he was not sure how to react.

_It doesn't make a difference, _he reasoned. It really didn't. Chakra was not significant in this place. Sakura, Kazuo and the rest of the population had gotten by without utilising their inner pool of energy. He wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even _know_ what chakra was. He rested his back against the leg of the desk behind him and let out a long sigh. It was just intuition but he felt that chakra was considered paranormal here. He shouldn't use it in front of anyone.

But even as he came to the resolution, he was picking up the angular wedge of wood and stroking its face with a finger. The elemental chakra he had wrapped around the digit easily sliced the timber. Naruto smiled a little. Knowing that he had his strength back made him feel... safe.

Checking that Sakura was not around to see it, he wound his chakra into the familiar pattern of the Rasengan, allowing the miniature model to swell ever so slowly. It spun above his outstretched palm. Naruto grinned.

His smile faltered when the jutsu abruptly began to expand at a rapid rate. He watched in alarm as the serene hue of his chakra bled into crimson. Naruto panicked. Was the Kyuubi reacting on his chakra and forcing its way out?

But before anything drastic happened, the mutated Rasengan diminished and collapsed into itself.

Then... pandemonium.

Instead of dissipating, the chakra he had summoned agitatedly spun around the room, throwing Sakura's belongings into disarray. Naruto shot to his feet and shouted in confusion, but he couldn't hear his own voice.

There was a thunderous roar in the back of his mind. At the same time he could feel a strong pressure on his body, like he was being pulled and pushed and compressed all at once, and in different directions.

With a groan, Naruto fell forward, breathing raggedly. His vision blurred and pulled in and out of focus. Sakura's room was a pool of colours, suddenly too bright for his eyes' comfort. He painstakingly raised a hand to block them out... but the colours did not disappear. He couldn't see his hand. Naruto raised his head, trying to catch sight of the mirror. The vague hues of Sakura's bed and floor shimmered.

He wasn't there.

_... What's happening to me?_

His consciousness was leaving him. Naruto's senses flared for the briefest of seconds, and he could hear hasty footsteps pounding toward the room; he saw the door by his head swing open. Kyuubi's frustrated howl drowned out Sakura's voice.

Uzumaki Naruto fell into darkness.

* * *

Sakura emptied another packet of flavouring into the steaming pot. She wasn't the biggest fan of ramen, but Naruto was the one doing her a favour. She imagined he would be hungry by now. She waited for him to be lured down by the aroma.

But instead, an immense wave of foreboding hammered her down. She raised her head, stunned. It was like the air had grown thicker, heavier. A distinct humming thrummed on the airwaves. Dread like nothing she had experienced before gripped her, and Sakura was already sprinting upstairs when sounds of what could be no less than a hurricane carried down the hallway.

It was coming from her room. As she stood at the top of the staircase, watching the spectral glow filter out from the slit beneath the door, seeping into the carpet, all she could think was, _This isn't normal._

As if her thoughts had become some sort of holy command, the strange light and thudding sounds suddenly ceased to exist. Sakura clenched her fists, feeling her sweaty palms beneath her fingers, and slowly walked towards her room. She had half a mind to laugh at her apprehension. She was behaving as if an extraterrestrial being had invaded her home. That was a preposterous idea. Naruto would have...

Naruto. Naruto was in that room.

She flung open the door. "Naruto, what-" Sakura started, and lost her voice.

Her room was unrecognisable. Everything had been forced to the edges, leaving a rough circular space in the middle of the room. Two halves of wood lay in the tiny clearing. Walking over in a daze, she picked them up and looked around. _He must be hiding under the bed or something,_ she tried to assure herself, even as she realised that it was unlikely. Naruto wouldn't do this on purpose.

"This isn't funny," she called. Her voice was rising. A sharp prick in her hand alerted her to the blood that was dripping from her white-knuckled fists. The wood had crumbled away, leaving her hands pierced with splinters. The pain felt remote. "Naruto, I'm bleeding," she tried again.

Her heart sank when he didn't respond.

"Naruto...?"

But she knew he was gone.

* * *

He woke.

The ceiling of stalactites dripped water, creating small ripples in the shallow water that he was lying on. He stared numbly up at them, his eyes empty, until a single drop fell onto his forehead, followed by another on his cheek, and another, and-

Chakra... Rasengan... red... black...

Naruto lurched into an upright position, gasping. He looked down at his hands, relieved to see that they were actually _there_. Every other part of him seemed solid as well. Whatever that episode had been, it was over. He relaxed, but just a little.

He was in a hollowed cave of some kind. His clothes were drenched and heavy with water. Light shone in through the entrance and reflected the wavering water onto the walls. Naruto saw that the cave was empty. Nothing stirred. Outside, he spotted lush plantation. A jolt of familiarity propelled him onto unsteady feet.

_Where am I?_

This was clearly not in the vicinity of the town he had been staying in. Kazuo and Sakura were nowhere to be seen. His lips thinned as he worried about their safety. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if his actions had brought harm to them in any way.

His head throbbed. _What _did_ I do, anyway?_

"... Don't move."

Naruto instinctively reached for a kunai and bit out a curse when he remembered that he was empty-handed. The cold steel of the sword pressed against his neck bit into his skin.

"I said," an expressionless voice intoned, "don't move."

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto realised that he had no other option but to obey. He stilled himself.

"Good. Now tell me what you are doing here."

"First, I want to know what kind of teme wants to hack off my head," Naruto growled. He had been careless, softened by the lack of conflict. If given the chance, he vowed never to make the same mistake again.

His foe was silent; Naruto heard him inhale sharply. "Turn around," the man ordered. There was an essence of haste about the command.

Scowling, Naruto slowly dragged his feet. The katana never left his neck and imprinted a faint red mark on his throat. What luck – he _had_ to run into someone filled to the rim with experience.

"Alright, what do you-"

He choked on the same astonishment that filled the Sharingan eyes staring at him.

"Sa... Sasuke!"

* * *

A/N: Whoa, I didn't realise that it has already been four months since the last update. Sorry! I hit a bit of a writer's block for a while but now I'm back.

I did mention that Naruto wouldn't be staying in the one time, didn't I? I'm not going to talk much about that at this stage. I'll let the story speak for itself later on. I wonder if this can be considered a cliffhanger...?

Just to clarify, Sakura's 'sense of foreboding' was just in reaction to Naruto's chakra. Similar to 'killer intent', I've always thought that chakra had its own weight. Haha, sounds more like Bleach now.

Yeah, I was watching _My Neighbour Totoro_ the night I wrote that scene. It was a funny film, especially the scene with the umbrella.

Anyway, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. Off to write chapters for my other stories now. I pray I won't leave you hanging for too long.


	5. When You're Gone

**Chapter Five: When You're Gone**

~O~**  
**

I've never felt this way before  
Everything that I do reminds me of you  
And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor  
And they smell just like you, I love the things that you do  
_When You're Gone – Avril Lavigne_

~O~**  
**

Looking back, he could see that he had made a foolish decision. Many had walked down this same path before him; Hinata, Lee, Neji... but not him. Never him. He'd turned down each invitation until they no longer asked, until everyone had accepted that holding on to that single shred of hope was blatantly hopeless. No one could bring themselves to come here anymore.

After all, this was where Uzumaki Naruto's life had ended.

Sasuke's jaw tightened and his sharp eyes flashed. This wasn't like him at all. With the dwindling security and intelligence, his role was considered vital to his comrades' survival. He should be hurrying back to make his report, not detouring to this place – this _grave_. He should have known better than to give in to his sudden wave of irrationality. His naivety was enough to disgust him. He hadn't realised that he had been one of the many who had fallen prey to the widespread belief that Naruto was indestructible simply because he bounced back from every assault.

_And here we are_, he thought, opening his eyes to glare at the cave that he hadn't returned to since that day. _There's nothing. _The place of sealing was not unlike the Shukaku's site. Akatsuki knew how to pick locations. Sandwiched between Earth and Fire Countries during a time of tight international tension, not even Sasuke would have blindly charged into Grass. It had taken them too long – they had been too late.

Since he was not channelling chakra to his feet, each step he took broke out in ripples and disturbed the otherwise pristine, glass-like surface. Sasuke surveyed the dark soil submerged beneath the water, where the King of Hell statue had been summoned.

He dully gazed up at the icy spears glistening over his head, his eyes narrowed. It angered the raven-haired man to remind himself that, to this day, Naruto's body was still mysteriously missing. He had never been one to believe in burying the dead for respect of their afterlife. No, he just wanted to put an end to this. There was no closure without the body. It simply kept them hanging.

He was upset to realise that he still could not put the ordeal behind him. He should never have let Naruto drag him back to the Leaf, even if both of them had beaten the living daylights out of each other, even if the idiot had promised that Konoha had a good lead on Itachi. Even if Sasuke had secretly enjoyed their reunion.

Bonds were burdens. He thought he had learned that.

He growled lowly. Even this place had a certain aura about it, flooded with Naruto's presence. It was pungent. Unnaturally so.

And if there was a single word that all shinobi reacted it, it would be 'unnatural'.

Sasuke's nerves pumped adrenaline into him and, not quite knowing why, he instinctively masked his chakra signature, falling back to become part of the shadows. His keen eyes glinted in the dark.

Small waves skittered along the water's surface as the wind abruptly picked up. Sasuke slowly grasped Kusanagi's brass hilt, prepared to draw – but he was distracted by a sudden hurricane of chakra condensing in the centre of the cave. It wasn't the force of the energy that caused him to falter. It was the sheer _familiarity_ of the chakra that stole the breath from his lungs.

The unannounced storm died down as quickly as it had arrived. Sasuke spied a figure in its place, lying prone in the trembling waters. At first, he suspected the person was dead, but he was proved wrong when a broad-shouldered man sat up with a startled gasp. That was all he needed.

The wind barely stirred as Sasuke's burst of speed took him directly behind his target. He unhesitatingly laid his blade against the man's neck. "Don't move," he said. He frowned at the spikes of blonde hair that peeked through the mud plastered to the strands.

His foe reacted with lightning reflexes, very nearly taking Sasuke by surprise. The latter suspected that he would not have emerged from the clash unscathed if the man had actually found whatever weapon he had been groping for.

Irked, Sasuke tightened his grip on his blade. "I said, don't move." Seeing that his command had reluctantly been abided by, he continued. "Good. Now tell me what you are doing here."

It was most likely a scout from Akatsuki; Sasuke couldn't understand why anyone else would pay interest to this place in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, he had no idea why Akatsuki would send someone down here, but all that mattered was the valuable information that his allies would be able to pull out of this.

The man in front of him snorted in annoyance. "First, I want to know what kind of teme wants to hack off my head."

Sasuke stiffened at the rumbling voice.

"_I'm getting you back for this, Sasuke-teme!"_

"Turn around," Sasuke hissed. He felt relatively calm despite the situation. Because he knew that he was suspecting the impossible. It was ridiculous. Because there was no way that-

"Alright, what do you-"

- that Naruto could still be alive.

Sasuke barely heard his name being croaked out. He sprang forward without second thought.

The crackling of air charging with electricity was the only thing that warned the other man of encroaching danger. Blue eyes widened with confusion, disbelief and alarm, and he threw himself out of the way just in time to keep his neck.

"Sasuke! What are you... it's me! I'm-"

"You're not." His tone was curdled with contempt. Sasuke sheathed his sword and raised his hand. Sparks gathered at his fingertips and the twitters of a thousand birds echoed along the walls. "You're not him," he said, staring coldly into the disbelieving cerulean eyes as he plunged his Chidori into the imposter's chest. "You can't be."

He turned slowly, ignoring the shadow clone that he had just destroyed, and eyed the original. His adversary stood on the other end of the cave.

"Damn you, Sasuke! It's me!" he panted. Beads of sweat perspired on his forehead.

"You are tired out after producing a single shadow clone. You can't be him. It's-"

"For the love of God! _I'm Uzumaki Naruto!_"

In a furious flush of motion shuriken nailed into the rocky wall the figure had been standing in front of only seconds ago. Sasuke looked toward the blonde, standing five feet from his original position.

"No," he frowned.

His response drew exasperation. "_Yes_. Your Sharingan can tell. You know it."

"No." Sasuke forced the single syllable through clenched teeth.

"What's wrong with you, Sasuke? Why are you acting like th-"

"Because you're _supposed to be dead!_"

The silence rang loudly between the two men. Sasuke clearly deciphered the shock on his companion's features, and continued to glare as the latter sighed wearily. He slowly slid to the ground, shaking his head. "Look, I'm damn near out of chakra and I'm busting to go to the toilet. I don't need a duckbutt like you treating me like a walking ghost."

The crimson Sharingan spun. Sasuke refused to believe that this strangely-dressed guy was his old teammate. It should be expected of the enemy to attack his weaknesses.

But the person standing before him was Naruto in almost every aspect. He was loud, rude and daring. He could keep up with the Uchiha prodigy and level off the fight without sustaining the smallest of cuts. His chakra signature was unmistakeable.

"Enter my mind with your Sharingan if you want to," the subject continued. "Take a look at the Kyuubi inside me. I know you can do it. You can't fake something like that, right?"

Yes, he could do that. It would solve everything. A demon could not be recreated.

"Go on," Naruto prompted.

"Nin song, 'Nin Machine'," Sasuke said softly.

Naruto paused, puzzled. Then he slowly grinned.

"How the hell do you expect me to memorise something that long, bastard?"

Not many things could catch Uchiha Sasuke off guard. Naruto was proud to be part of the minority. He smirked at the hard disbelief in his old friend's eyes.

But he soon frowned as Sasuke's angular features swam in the fog that had unexpectedly waltzed into his mind. Shaking his head turned out to be a mistake; it only made the world spin that much faster.

Distantly, he heard Sasuke's voice, flat as always: "Usurakontachi. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Naruto slowly pulled himself upright – even though some part of him recognised this sudden light-headedness and was painstakingly advising him to just stay put. He swayed dangerously until Sasuke stepped in to grab him by the elbow. Naruto shrugged him off after he had righted himself, muttering, "S'alright. I'm good friends with my legs."

"Sit back down," Sasuke ordered.

For once in his life, Naruto felt like he should listen to his teammate. He didn't feel so peachy anymore. Every second he spent on his legs felt like a strenuous marathon.

_Please don't tell me I'm going to barf,_ he thought faintly. But even he knew that was the least of his problems. He hated to admit it, but he was paranoid of getting sucked into that maelstrom of chaos again. He stared hard at his hand, slick with sweat, as if daring it to dematerialise on him.

"Will you stop being so stubborn?" Sasuke said tightly. It didn't comfort him in the slightest to realise that he was worried about the loud idiot. He'd hate for their reunion to be short-lived.

When he saw that Naruto wasn't listening to him, he scowled and gave him a light shove. "Sit down and catch your breath while I try to make sense of this, dobe."

Naruto was pretty sure that Sasuke's intentions were good but there was no denying that his friend had dealt his balance a fatal blow. His waterlogged clothes dragged him down. Sasuke had turned away, brow knitted with thought, and Naruto tried to reach for him. But he was falling, falling, falling...

"Hmph. You're back."

Naruto cursed. What did he have to do to get some peace here?

He opened his eyes. "I don't like it either. I hate to break it to you, Kyuubi, but your rotten sewer doesn't make the list of attractive tourist destinations."

Instead of snapping back, the crimson-furred demon ignored the comment by padding to the forefront of its cell and regarding its jailor with rare interest. "So... you're back."

"Didn't we just establish that?"

Naruto felt like he was missing something when the Kyuubi fixed him with a bland look. Suddenly he understood. "Well, yeah, looks like it." He swallowed slowly, hesitating. "I'm... home."

He had no idea how it had happened but he had somehow returned to his own era. The reality was that he had been testing his recovered chakra, triggered some sort of reaction, and had woken to Sasuke trying to kill him. It didn't make any sense. He was tentative and, for reasons he didn't understand, he just couldn't readily accept that he had been transported home that easily.

With no mistake, he was definitely glad to be back. This was where he belonged, after all. But still... it felt so _minor_ compared to waking up in the future. It was like waking from a dream.

_Maybe it'd be easier if it _was_ a dream_, Naruto thought pensively. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling ever so slightly. He clenched them tightly. No, not a dream. He didn't want to believe that everything up to this point had been nothing more than a figment of his imagination. Sakura and her father couldn't have been a dream. They had been kind to him, had liked him, and he had liked _them_. He wouldn't _let_ them be a dream.

"I don't understand what goes on in a human's pea of a brain," the Kyuubi snorted. "I thought you would be happy about this."

Naruto looked up. He'd figured out what he was missing – joy.

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed, to both the demon and himself. "Why wouldn't I be happy? Get yourself some glasses before you try reading people, Fox. In any case, I hope you know what happened."

He internally shirked away from the Kyuubi's semi-curious look and concentrated on its deep voice. "Unlike you, I do have some inkling of how this came to be. I am still thinking."

"We just went through time again, didn't we? How?" Naruto remembered that his Rasengan had turned violently red with the Kyuubi's chakra, and narrowed his eyes. "That wasn't you trying to break the rest of the seal, was it?" he asked suspiciously.

"Fool! You were the one drawing on my chakra; do not force the blame on me," the Kyuubi responded roughly. Large slitted pupils glanced upward. "If you must know, time has run out for explanations. You simply succumbed to chakra exhaustion. Your body is waking." It glared vehemently as if to remind Naruto that the depleted chakra was entirely his fault, before turning its back on him. "Learn to draw your own conclusions. Do not disturb me."

Naruto stiffened as he was cast out of his own mind. Shafts of light beamed through the black as he rose toward consciousness. He gazed thoughtlessly at the radiance until he was engulfed by white.

* * *

He had expected his bedside to be crowded but the room was empty. Naruto sat up, taking in his surroundings. He surprised himself by thinking of the Harunos' spacious study when he saw that the room was unfamiliar to him.

The wind howled outside, unnaturally strong for Konoha's weather. Naruto obsessively smoothed the starchy blanket against his leg for several minutes. His mind was so muddled with confusion. He had been forced to switch gears too quickly. One moment he had been in a world he was only just beginning to adjust to, and the next he was back where it all started? How did this work?

Footsteps echoed down the hallway beyond the closed door of his room. Naruto habitually vaulted out of bed and tried to act like he hadn't only just woken up. By the time he crestfallenly remembered that Sakura would not be shaking him awake anymore, the door had soundlessly opened and a woman stepped inside, blinking in confusion at the empty bed.

It took longer than it should for Naruto to recognise his visitor. He had been slow to adjust to the jounin attire that she had switched to wearing when the war had hit its peak but now he wasn't accustomed to seeing her without it. The fact that he was waking up to someone he actually _knew_ floored him enough to leave him speechless until a slight shuffle of his feet gave him away. He winced when the newcomer whipped around with the speed of a well-tuned shinobi. The rapid movements itched his trained reflexes to lash out.

The two of them stared at each other for so long that even Naruto felt awkward about it. But what was he supposed to say? Judging from Sasuke's reaction, everyone thought he was dead. He thought he had been prepared, but he wasn't. Although it hadn't been very long since he'd last seen them, he couldn't help but feel like he had been separated from his companions for years. Their lives had gone on without him and now, returning as the living dead, he felt awfully detached.

So all Naruto could do was stare uncomfortably into the wide, incredulous eyes that were trained on him. But he couldn't hold the silence for any longer when those eyes began to water with tears. "Don't cry, Shizune," he blurted desperately.

Unfortunately, the sound of his voice only sent a fresh wave of tears flowing down her cheeks. Naruto staggered back as his surrogate sister threw her arms around him. "It really is you," she whispered. "Naruto... Naruto, you're back. I... I can't..." She buried her tear-streaked face in his chest.

Naruto found himself wrapping his arms around Shizune's shoulders, struggling to find the right words. Finally, he croaked, "Tadaima."

Shizune choked on short laughter and pulled away a little, gazing up at his face. "I... can't believe you were alive all this time." She wiped her face. "What happened to you? We heard that Akatsuki had..."

"Err... long story..."

She must have seen his grimace. "You can save it for later, when everyone is here." Shizune's eyes lit up. "We should let them know you're awake. I had to ask the Kazekage to put in restrictions while you were unconscious. Everyone wanted to see you."

Naruto tilted his head. "Kankurou? He's here?"

"You haven't realised yet?" Shizune wouldn't let go of him. "We're in Suna, Naruto."

"Suna?" He turned to the window. The gritty wind and sparse, rounded buildings told him that they were indeed in the Sand Village. To be honest, he had never appreciated the place very much, finding the environment harsh compared to Konoha's. Naruto was disappointed. He assumed that Sasuke had opted to travel to the nearest village. But he'd wanted to go home to his birthplace. He wanted to see the Leaf Village.

"Ne, when can we go back to Konoha?" Naruto asked hopefully. Even as he voiced the question, he wondered why Shizune was here. She was not so irresponsible as to leave their village when the hospital was so short on staff. She also wore Wind Country's customary garments, designed to shield the wearer from the sandy weather, as if she had been staying in the village for a long period of time.

Naruto looked down at his own body, and smiled. He was still in the clothes Sakura had bought for him.

"Konoha...?" Shizune sounded dismayed. He watched her curiously, confused by her expression. "Naruto... you don't know?"

"Know what?" Naruto became anxious when Shizune didn't answer him right away. Something had happened to the village. "Shizune, tell me," he said in a voice louder than he had intended. She couldn't even look at him now. He felt cold. "Akatsuki attacked, didn't they? Didn't they? Shizune!"

Breaking, Shizune slipped out of the grip he had on her shoulders. Naruto didn't even remember grabbing her. His knuckles were pale and he registered that he must have been hurting her. Immediately ashamed, he turned his head away and forcefully slowed his breathing. The Kyuubi reacted even more readily to his emotions now. If he wasn't careful he would release the demon. He had promised never to let that happen and it was one promise he was determined to keep.

Shizune held his rigid hands down. She had seen the young man's pupils narrow to menacing slits and was disturbed by what she had seen. Naruto hadn't lost control of the Kyuubi in the face of an ally for years. Swallowing, she said, "Naruto, please – get a hold of yourself. Listen to me."

His eyes were closed. "I'm listening, I'm listening," he breathed heavily.

But Shizune wasn't the one who spoke next.

"Hmm... am I interrupting something?" The new voice was deep and masculine.

Naruto looked over the top of Shizune's head, his eyes widening. "... Kankurou!"

"Good to see you too, squirt," the older man greeted. Naruto still remembered the Kankurou of the past: face-painted, many inches shorter, and with his earliest puppet strapped to his back. Over the years, Kankurou had developed into a tall, powerfully-built figure of authority. He had stopped wearing face-paint a short while before he had taken over his brother's role as Kazekage, instantly transforming his appearance. Despite their long acquaintance, Naruto still had trouble recognising his friend from a distance.

Now, Naruto squinted at Gaara's brother, curious despite his unease. "Since when did you have a beard?" he asked.

Kankurou's eye twitched. "It's a _goatee_, for heaven's sake! There's a difference! And for your information, I started growing it out last year."

"Last year? No way! I haven't seen you with a beard before today."

Kankurou would undoubtedly have launched into an irritated explanation of the difference between a beard and a goatee if Shizune hadn't interrupted before he could begin. "Naruto doesn't know, Kazekage."

The large man stopped fingering his facial hair, suddenly serious. Naruto grew tense again just looking at his grim expression. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"More like 'what's already happened'," Kankurou muttered. "Naruto, it's probably best if you tell us your side of the story first. What happened to you?"

Naruto was frustrated at having his own question turned against him. Why wouldn't anyone tell him anything? It could only be a sign that the news was bad – very bad.

Impatiently, he retold his experience. He fed his audience the Kyuubi's explanation of what had happened, but faltered when he came to the Harunos. He avoided mentioning them as much as he could. His time with Kazuo and Sakura was not important to his audience, but it meant more to him. They wouldn't understand. The selfish part of him didn't want to tell his friends, the ones who had been by his side for years, that he had been happy in a world without them.

"... my chakra went wild and did – well, I don't know what it did. All I know is that I woke up in that cave and Sasuke found me there. And now I'm here, wondering why no one's telling me what I want to know." Naruto knew that his anger was unwarranted. But he needed to _know_. Didn't they see that?

Kankurou looked deep in thought, his mind quickly breaking down Naruto's tale. "Well, I know that there are rumours of forbidden techniques that can allow the user to manipulate time, so I can believe what the Nine-Tails did. But... a month, you say?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I was there for no longer than a month. Will you please tell me what happened to Konoha now?"

His expression troubled, Kankurou scratched his head. "You're the medic-nin, Shizune. Do you think it's healthy for him to know right after he's just woken up?"

"I'm perfectly fine," Naruto insisted – but he recognised an attempt to stall when he saw one. He had to be incredibly dense if he hadn't caught on to this evasive tactic, and why it was being used on him. As the captain of several assault squads, he'd had the disheartening task of breaking bad news to families. He just wanted someone to tell him the truth. More than anything, he wanted to prove his intuition wrong.

"Are you going to come inside anytime soon, Sasuke?" he called.

Kankurou stepped aside to let Sasuke walk into the room. The Uchiha leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. His eyes were intense.

"Sasuke, did Akatsuki-"

"There's nothing left of the Leaf Village," Sasuke said quietly.

"Nothing... left?" Naruto repeated after a moment of silence.

Shizune gave Sasuke a look of warning, but the words were stolen from the Uchiha's lips by Naruto himself. "We... lost, didn't we?"

Kankurou stepped forward. "Hey, don't think like that. It's not over yet. The other nations-"

"We lost," Naruto said again, his tone dull and detached. He slowly lowered himself onto the bed and held his head in his hands. He felt like he was trapped in a void. He didn't quite see Shizune kneeling in front of him, concerned. He couldn't hear her voice. He couldn't feel anything.

_... Konoha is gone._

He forced himself to swallow. "Where's Jiraiya? I... I want to talk to him."

Never before had Naruto felt such a strong need for Jiraiya's guidance. The pervert wouldn't mince his words, nor would he needlessly try to comfort his apprentice. Jiraiya always knew what to do. And Naruto desperately needed someone to give him a purpose to cling to right now.

The silence hung, unpenetrated. Naruto looked around at his companions, waiting for a response. Shizune bit her lip and looked out the window. She wouldn't meet his eyes. No one would.

After a while, Naruto lowered his head again, chuckling weakly. "So that's how it is," he murmured. He stared at his hands. He had fought so many battles with these hands... but now he felt like he had nothing to fight for.

"I just... don't understand," he whispered. "How could all of this have happened while I was gone? I don't get it..."

Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief moment. "That's because you've been gone for nearly four years, Naruto."

* * *

The end of the school day couldn't come quickly enough for Haruno Sakura. Her gaze strayed to the clock too many times, and she eventually began wishing that the sluggish minute hand would move as quickly as she was twirling her pen.

But when the bell finally rang and her teacher futilely reminded the class of their homework, Sakura found herself still in her seat and blinking at the logarithms on the blackboard as her classmates fled from the room. Then, sighing, she got up and began to pack her bag.

_I did it again_, she thought unhappily. For the past few days, Sakura had been restless, especially during school hours. Sitting through her classes became tedious and she would come to school only to look forward to going home again. Yet the moment the bell rang, she would lose the rush of haste and wonder why she had been so eager for the day to end. She didn't know what had gone over her.

The thing about schools was that they emptied incredibly quickly. Students without after-school activities beelined for the exits as if terrified that staying on the school grounds would cause them to break out in nasty hives. Sakura had gotten used to the empty hallways lately – so used to them, in fact, that she didn't even bother to pay attention to her surroundings.

The other student grunted as she walked right into him, coming close to stepping on his sneakers. Sakura's apologies were cut short when she accidentally dropped and tripped over her own bag. She would have hit the floor if someone hadn't caught her by the wrist.

"Great. So this is what I get for stopping to say hi," the boy grumbled.

Sakura stopped short when she recognised the voice. Her lips thinned into a habitual smile as she looked up at the familiar face. "Oh. It's _you_." She massaged her forehead, her expression becoming one of playful ridicule. "Have you been eating scrap metal for breakfast again?"

Yamazaki Kenjiro grinned, rubbing his chest. "Yeah, I can see you've been practicing your headbutts on hammerheads, too."

"I hate you, Ken."

"I love you too," he teased back.

Sakura was glad that Ken had chosen that moment to bend over and retrieve her bag. Those four words had once melted her, but Sakura was a natural realist. She quickly schooled her expression into a passive one just as Ken straightened and handed her bag to her. She smiled at him, hoping he wouldn't notice her stiff spine and the clenched hand she held behind her back.

"You don't have your gear," Ken observed. "Not coming to training today?"

"Can't." She showed him her left hand, bound by bandages. "Dad said I should take it easy for a couple of weeks. So that's no tennis for a while. Sorry."

He grimaced at her injury. "Well, that does look painful. What'd you do to it?"

Sakura's eyes glazed as she touched the dressing. "I... My woodwork assignment and I had a little disagreement."

"Looks like you should have listened to Ino and chosen hospitality after all." The amusement gradually drained from his eyes. "So... I heard that a friend of yours has gone missing, Sakura."

She stared at him for a while. "You could say that," she mumbled.

"You've been distracted all week. Close friend?"

Sakura turned her head toward the window, her eyes downcast. "Probably."

"Probably?" Ken raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know him very well." She raised her wounded hand and rested it on the window sill. She frowned at the plaster around her finger, remembering Naruto's strange, silent phases. "I don't even know anything about him," she said softly.

She shook her head and smiled wanly at Ken. "Gomen ne. You didn't need to hear that. You have training, don't you? You'd better get going. You know what Kimura-senpai does to people who are late."

"Oh, trust me – I know exactly what he does." Ken slung his sports bag over one shoulder and looked down at the pink-haired girl. "About your friend... I can, you know, have a talk with my uncle and see what he can do. If you want."

"It's alright, Ken. He's old enough to be independent and I doubt he got kidnapped. There's no point bothering the police."

He shrugged. "Alright then. If you need anything, you know you can call me, right?"

Their eyes met and Sakura was thrown back by his deep gaze, flickering with emotions that made her turn away. "Right," she heard herself reply.

Ken smiled at her one last time. Then they both turned and went their own ways.

Sakura's fast-paced walk carried her out into the courtyard, and then the energy left her. She wished she hadn't run into Ken – alone. She dragged her fingers through her hair, chewing on her lower lip. She hated this. Ever since then, it felt like the two of them were more than regular friends, yet at the same time there was an unexplainable distance between them. It made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't even know where their friendship stood anymore.

Despite herself, Sakura wistfully looked over to the far wall outside the school gates. The memory of a blonde-haired boy enthusiastically scribbling in a notepad flashed into her mind, and she forced herself to look away.

"Gee, what took you so long, Sakura?"

The sound of her name spun her around faster than she thought possible, and she stared back at the unoccupied wall until she forcefully reminded that he wasn't going to come.

"I love how I don't even get a 'thanks for waiting'." Ino sighed at her friend's silence. Her eyes softened. "Expecting someone else?"

Sakura's eyes flashed and she gave Ino an accusing look. "You told Ken about Naruto."

Ino peered down the road. "Dang – we missed the bus," she sighed, and began walking.

"Ino," Sakura sighed.

"He noticed that you've been acting weirdly, so he asked me if I knew what was wrong. It wasn't like I had much to tell him; you barely told me anything." Ino glanced over at her companion. Sakura had been unusually enigmatic about Uzumaki Naruto's disappearance. Ino hadn't even known that Loverboy had mysteriously gone missing until Sakura had been walking home alone for three days.

"There's nothing to tell, Ino. He's gone."

"And?"

"And what?"

Getting straight answers out of Sakura when she didn't feel like it was a monstrous task. Ino had known Sakura for years, so she knew that the girl had the tendency to hide her problems. She hardly ever talked to anyone about them. Her private mind impressed the adults, but Ino personally disliked her friend's quiet character. It never failed to give the impression that Sakura was facing troubles beyond her age.

"Come on, he's been living with you for weeks, and all of a sudden he's disappeared. You've been pretty upset about it. I hope you're not about to deny it," she said sternly when Sakura opened her mouth. "Ever since you met him you've always found a way to mention his name in conversations. You bother to get up early and walk him to my place. He's been gone almost a week, and in that time you've been a brick wall."

"Thanks," Sakura huffed.

Ino ignored her. "My point is, you're closer to him than you think."

They stood waiting at the next crossing. Sakura distantly watched the red light glow. She walked down this same path with Naruto every day. Most of the time they laughed and exchanged highlights of their day; he would go on about working at the flower shop and she would obligingly answer his curious questions about her courses. Sometimes their trip home would be quiet; on those days, Naruto was usually deep in thought, frowning at something he never talked about. After the harbour, Sakura had learned to respect his silence and not take his demeanour too seriously – because at the end of the day, Naruto would always look up with a bright grin, reliably cheerful and overly-active.

She began to wonder if she knew more about Uzumaki Naruto than she thought.

"Forehead," Ino sighed. "Would you talk to me? Please?"

Sakura didn't speak until they had crossed the road. "Ino, I'll be alright. He's my friend – but in the end he's just someone my dad brought home and let stay over. He was going to leave sooner or later. This was just a little sudden, that's all. Nothing really changed. And..." She closed her eyes, willing herself to say the words. _It's reality,_ she told herself._ Deal with it._

"And someday... I'll forget him. That's how life is."

"Sakura, you..." Ino frowned, and suddenly she couldn't hold back anymore. "Sure, you didn't know him too well and he wasn't related to you – but I could tell you liked him. Well, not like-liked him..." She shook her head, dismissing the minor details. "You liked having him around, didn't you? Naruto was – oh, what am I saying? – _is _a nice guy. You two were living in the same house! Even I know he's not just some random stranger to you. You're not worried about him? You... you don't-"

"Care?" Sakura interjected quietly. They had stopped at the intersection that parted their way home. She laughed humourlessly and met Ino's wide eyes. Trying hard to keep her voice level, she said, "What else can I do about it, Ino? If I'm not supposed to forget him, what am I supposed to do?"

The two girls stood facing each other, not uttering a word. Ino bit her lip, her frown deep, wondering if she had taken it too far.

Then Sakura's head came up, and she was smiling. It didn't look forced, but her childhood friend knew that she'd had a lot of practice. "Mou, you're being so serious, Pig – loosen up. Don't worry about me. Like I said, I'll..." Her voice trailed off. She couldn't say it this time. "I'll be fine. I promise I'll cheer up soon, 'kay?"

"Sakura, that's not what I-" Ino didn't get to finish.

"The weatherman said it might rain this afternoon. We should get home before it does, huh?" Sakura smiled tightly. She truly appreciated Ino's concern, but Naruto had become a peculiarly touchy subject for the pink-haired girl. She implored her friend to drop it.

At last, Ino gave in with a defeated sigh. "See you tomorrow, Billboard Brow. Don't say I didn't try."

It wasn't until the blonde had turned the corner that Sakura murmured, "Of course I care."

The clouds began to shed light rain almost as soon as she started walking again. Sakura immediately fumbled through her satchel. Her umbrella was buried deep in her bag and her hair was already damp by the time she unearthed it. But, hesitating, she didn't open it.

"_Ano sa... where can I buy an umbrella?"_

"_Lots of places. I'll show you on the weekend if you want."_

"_Great! Do you think they'll have frog patterns on them?"_

"_Uh... I think you might have to raid a preschool for those. What's wrong with mine, anyway?"_

"_Well... umm... it's _pink_."_

"_... Your point?"_

The memory only made her tighten her grip on the umbrella's handle, eyes dark. Recalling that Naruto had used the same umbrella was enough to make want to stamp her foot in frustration. Why did it feel like she had undergone a life-changing event when nothing had really happened to her? Why did Naruto's disappearance haunt her so much when it shouldn't affect her more than a classmate changing schools?

"That's enough... cut it out already," she whispered.

The cold was beginning to seep through her shirt, clamming up her skin. She knew she should open her umbrella. She wasn't stupid enough to stand unsheltered in the rain... unlike...

"Damn it!" She shoved her umbrella back in her bag – and ran. She had always been a fast sprinter. But even the rhythmic beat of her shoes pounding against concrete and her laboured breaths could not completely drown out... what? The anxiety? Anger? Regret?

She kept running.

Some part of her registered her father's car in the driveway, and Sakura slowed on the steps, catching her breath. Winded, she parted sodden hair away from her face. She realised that she was soaked more thoroughly than she had thought, and sighed at the thought of having to lie; she didn't fancy telling her parent the truth. She didn't doubt that Naruto was on the forefront of his mind as much as it was on hers. He shouldn't have to worry about her as well.

After taking a deep breath, Sakura let herself into the house. Kazuo was sitting on the couch. He looked up from his laptop when his daughter shut the door.

"You're home early again, Dad? I hope you remembered to take the clothes in. It's raining outside."

"I can tell," he chuckled.

Sakura laughed a little. "Yeah, I sort of-"

"Forgot your umbrella?" he finished for her. His daughter's smile faded into a grimace, but he didn't press her. Instead, he nodded at a steaming mug on the coffee table. "Come have a sip and warm yourself up."

Relieved, Sakura kicked off her shoes and joined him. Her moist uniform clung to her as she sat down. She gratefully wrapped her hands around her father's cup. She knew it was mocha with extra milk and less sugar before she even tasted the dark liquid. Instantly, a thread of warmth lazily circulated through her body and filled her with ease.

She looked curiously at Kazuo's laptop screen. "What are you working on?"

"The director wants the monthly report." He sighed and stabbed at the backspace key. "This keyboard is too small," he grumbled.

"Why didn't you use the desktop in the study?"

Kazuo hit backspace a few more times. "Some people have a very confusing system of organising things. It's called The Mess. And the moment someone shifts stuff around, they can't find anything anymore." He studied a printed profile on the table. "I figured the kid would probably like his mess the way it is."

Hearing his words, Sakura looked down at her lap and gently swirled the cup's contents. "You sound so certain that he'll come back."

"I don't know where that boy's gone, but I think he'll be back. Someone like him..." Her father paused. "I think he would say goodbye if he was really leaving."

There it was again. Not just Ino, but her father also seemed to see something different in Uzumaki Naruto. Just as Sakura had. She didn't know how, but from the moment she had seen him outside the school gates, waiting for her on the word of a promise, she'd known that Naruto was more than a friendly stranger. Something about him stood out. That was why Sakura could not simply dismiss what had happened. Any sensible person would have dwelled on it and moved on. But for once, Haruno Sakura was not being sensible.

"Dad...?"

"Hmm?"

She slowly placed the cup onto the coffee table. "Do you think Naruto... left?"

Kazuo glanced at his daughter. "By that, you mean..."

"Like, left of his own accord." Sakura slowly chose her words. "I wonder if, maybe, he didn't want to stay anymore."

Kazuo thought he sensed a tinge of desperation, as if Sakura did not want to imagine any other reason Naruto would have disappeared. "Why don't you ask yourself something?" he suggested lightly. She gazed expectantly up at him. "Do _you_ think he wanted to leave?"

"Me?" She blinked and, in her mind's eye, she pictured Naruto's lively grin. Her lips unconsciously curved into a fond smile. "I thought he was happy staying with us."

"There you have it. He'll be back. Have some faith in him." Kazuo affectionately ruffled her damp hair. "Take a shower, Sakura. I'll make dinner tonight. And now..." He shot his report an unhappy look.

Sakura watched him for a while, enjoying the security her father's presence instilled. It must be nice to be so confident, so composed. Despite that, she was glad she hadn't told Kazuo about the eruption of sheer energy that had occurred in her room. She hadn't told anyone about it. She doubted she was going to.

She made her way upstairs, leaving her father to his work. A dull ache prickled Sakura's hand as she entered her bedroom. Almost a week ago, she had burst into her room to find it in chaos, and Naruto nowhere to be seen. Instinctively deducing that no one should know about the incident, she had tidied the mess before her father returned, and when he did, told him that she had come out of her shower to find Naruto gone.

It wasn't that she thought Kazuo wouldn't believe her; she kept it to herself because she knew this wasn't normal – because the idea that _Naruto_ may not be normal was one that could easily spread like wildfire.

The atmosphere in the room was still heavy with residue of the supernatural power. As usual, it made Sakura extremely uneasy. She turned to the centre of the room. Something had definitely happened here... but what?

Her mind supplied a ghostly image of Naruto wrestling with the wooden block, tongue protruding from his mouth in a sign of intense concentration. Her father was right; Naruto wouldn't simply leave like that, especially not through the window, which was the only possible exit since Sakura had not seen him downstairs.

_But if he didn't leave..._

This was what she hated the most – the reality of not knowing what happened, of being left to formulate her own conclusion. She had no experience with things like this, and she refused to believe in something as outrageous as alien abduction.

The mysterious emotion returned to her chest, chilling her more than wet clothes could. She tried to suppress it, but it only grew stronger as she slid to the floor and hugged her knees. "Naruto... please come back..."

She was afraid because, deep down, she knew exactly what was bothering her. The thought horrified her. If she could just see him, smiling that goofy smile, then she could brush off the fear...

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut.

The fear that Naruto was dead.

* * *

He didn't move until many hours later.

Night had fallen and the room was illuminated only by the weak glow of the village's meagre nightlife. Sitting with his eyes closed, Naruto could easily forget that he was in Suna. To him, the sound of quiet activity was Konoha's villagers braving through fear and gloom to keep the streets lively; the grainy spatter of sand against stone was wind whistling through the leaves of the tree outside his bedroom window. The faint chatter of voices were his friends trudging home, half the group drunk, the sober half fending off an intoxicated Rock Lee.

Then he slipped back in time and was sitting on the floor of his old classroom, immobilised by ropes and suffering Iruka-sensei's endless threats of what he would do if his feisty student dared to skip class again. Naruto looked over the heads of his laughing classmates and saw that the back of the room had become the Hokage's office. Sarutobi was playing shogi with Jiraiya, while Tsunade discreetly stole the winner's bottle of sake. Everyone was here. This was home.

But when he opened his eyes, it was all gone.

A dull thud resonated off the walls as Naruto abruptly slammed the ridge of his palm against his forehead. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. The Leaf Village had been destroyed, Jiraiya was dead, his friends had lived four years without him... Was this what he had been yearning for all this time? The world he had longed to return to... was _this_?

_Now would be a great time to wake up,_ he thought darkly.

However, not even the intense frustration he was experiencing could dull his honed senses. His eyes darted to the door before it even opened.

Sasuke silently strode inside. "Half the village wants to see you and here you are, getting drunk on grief."

"What do you want, Sasuke?"

"Come, dobe. We're going for a walk."

The hunched figure on the bed did not move.

Sasuke crossed the room and grabbed Naruto by the arm. Almost immediately his hand was knocked away. Naruto had risen to his feet, his chest heaving. It took him a brief moment to realise what he was doing, and he tried to soften the glare in his eyes. "Go by yourself. I need more time alone," he muttered.

"Get over it," Sasuke said bluntly.

"'Get over it'?" Naruto echoed. He laughed a hollow laugh. "Who are you trying to kid, Sasuke? You don't get it. Do you know how hard I fought for our village? Do you know what it means to me?" His voice rose uncontrollably. "Do you know how important Ero-sennin was to me? Do you know how _goddamn useless I feel right now_?" He pounded his fist against the wall and thin cracks raced along the plaster.

Onyx eyes narrowed. "Listen to yourself. The way you are right now, you _are_ useless. Stop thinking about what has already happened. Set your priorities straight."

"Priorities? What priorities?" Naruto furiously shook his head. "There's nothing left to fight for!"

Cool-headed as he was, Sasuke could not stand the pathetic sight that was supposed to be the most optimistic being alive. There was a limit to sorrow, and he never thought he would hear those words from Naruto, of all people. In a flash, he had grabbed the other man by the shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"Get a _grip,_ Naruto!" he hissed. "Are you just going let Akatsuki have their way? Get it into your thick skull that it isn't the end. Konoha is gone. Accept it. You aren't the only one who-"

Naruto ripped himself free. "What do _you_ know?" he snapped. "You left the village. You never truly cared about it, did you? How would you understand how I feel?"

He knew he had crossed the line and the lucid side of him regretted it when he saw Sasuke's unreadable expression. Naruto tried to calm himself in the lapse of silence, still watching Sasuke. He had no idea what the latter was thinking.

Eventually, Sasuke spoke. "You're right. I don't care about Konoha as much as you do. I was prepared to sever all ties with it. But do you know why I'm still here?" His sharp eyes pierced Naruto's with unnerving credence. "Because some idiot dragged me back and told me that I belonged there. I don't. But why do I fight for it?" He clenched his fist. "Because the easiest way to live is to have something to fight for, that's why. And don't think I forgot who told me that."

He saw it coming but was too stunned to evade it. Naruto stood there and let Sasuke's fist smash into his jaw. His head snapped to the side and he was flung back against the wall, the impact shaking the window. He staggered and lost his balance.

Sasuke slowly straightened. "Nothing left to fight for... If you are really Uzumaki Naruto, act like it."

Wordlessly, Naruto wiped a trickle of blood from his chin.

"Do you think I like to lose, idiot? I know it's hard for you; it was hard for everyone. The fight isn't over. The village can be rebuilt."

"But you can't bring back Jiraiya." Naruto's voice cracked at the mention of the Toad Sannin. According to Kankurou, Jiraiya and the rest of the infiltration squad had met their end on the same day Naruto had been defeated by Pain. The Akatsuki leader had joined his subordinates after capturing the Nine-Tails host and overwhelmed the Leaf nins. Jiraiya had dealt their enemies remarkable damage before falling.

Naruto was somewhat glad that his mentor hadn't known that his apprentice had been captured. He didn't want to forever be a failure in the eyes of the man who had come closest to being his father.

A shadow fell over him and Naruto flinched when Sasuke hauled him to his feet. "Come on," he muttered.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, but received no reply. Faced with no other option, the blonde dazedly stumbled in his friend's wake. The bright lights in the corridor momentarily blinded him and he barely evaded certain death when he followed Sasuke down the staircase. He realised that he had been staying at the village's administration centre when they entered the lobby. The place seemed much busier than he remembered, even at the late hour.

"That Shikamaru! I'm not a flapping carrier pigeon!" A slender woman burst through the front doors, shaking a crumpled envelope. She slapped it down on the receptionist's cluttered desk. "Send this up to Kankurou. Tell him it's from Nara Shikamaru." She paused for a moment. "And tell him I've saved some dinner for him."

She huffed and marched out again, muttering something along the lines of "Men! Seriously!"

Naruto stared after the blonde woman. "That was Temari, wasn't it? So she and Shikamaru are still together, huh?"

Sasuke hadn't even looked at the scene, but he glanced sideways at his companion. "Shikamaru can no longer use his legs."

"... You're kidding."

"No."

They left the building, emerging in the dusty streets. Naruto trudged after Sasuke, his brow puckered. Shikamaru, the lazy yet terrifyingly brilliant man who could lay a siege with only a dozen men, was crippled. It didn't seem fair.

_Why do these things happen?_ Naruto had once demanded of Jiraiya when they had discovered a smoking battlefield on their travels. He'd choked on the stench of death then, young and naive; blind to what a true shinobi's life was like.

_Because this isn't just war, gaki,_ Jiraiya had said, his eyes serious for once. _This is life._

Thinking back, Naruto could understand why Sasuke had hit him back there. It was too easy to forget that he had been gone for so many years. His friends had suffered through warfare and hardship for twice as long as he had. They had also lost their home and loved ones. It was selfish of him to act like the sole victim.

Although... life seemed normal enough. They had settled despite the constant fighting. It appeared to Naruto that people like Shikamaru and Temari were making the most out of their lives while they could. They were prepared. They had hardened. They had moved on. And he was expected to do the same.

Naruto's mind buzzed with thoughts that were beginning to give him a headache. He pulled himself out of his reverie and caught up to Sasuke, who had gone on ahead while he had loitered. The latter seemed determined to remain silent. Naruto observed that Sasuke was even quieter than he had once been. He also strode through Suna's streets with the ease and familiarity of long-term residence. Strangely, it made Naruto feel awkward.

As they walked on, he began to notice the number of heads that turned when he passed by. He recognised some faces, and gradually came to understand that not _all_ of Konoha was gone. He waved and shouted greetings to those that smiled at him, and thought he felt a spark of hope ignite within him.

The Sand Village seemed to have expanded to accommodate the former Leaf residents. Amongst the clay buildings were small clusters of small wooden houses. Naruto could only imagine that Tenzou was responsible. He really had missed out on so much. While he had been working at a flower shop and getting ready to leave everything behind him, his comrades had done all this. He kicked at the dirt beneath his shoes.

Sasuke stopped, but Naruto didn't look up in time and plowed right into his back. His lack of attention earned him a sharp look of annoyance. "We're here."

Naruto spared his teammate a glower and, brushing himself off, stepped out from behind Sasuke. His eyes widened. The stand was smaller than it used to be and the decor was decidedly foreign – but the store's nameplate was one and the same. The nostalgic fragrance was not at all dulled by the sand in the wind. Awed, he turned to Sasuke; maybe he was trying to tell him that some things were still the same.

Like Ichiraku Ramen.

Naruto eagerly swept aside the grey veil draped over the store's front that was designed to keep sand out. The seats were empty and the counter was unmanned – but he could hear activity in the kitchen. "Old man Teuchi! Ayame!" he called, making no effort to disguise his rising excitement.

Sasuke seated himself. "Quiet down," he retorted, knowing that his words would enter one ear and out the other. The idiot was too enthusiastic to be shot down with two words. It was the first genuine smile he had seen on Naruto's face for... a long time.

Naruto leaned across the counter and continued calling, until the two shinobi heard the telltale metallic clang of a pan being dropped, followed by hasty footsteps. A flustered woman emerged from the back of the store, shoving long brown hair from her face so she could see her customer properly.

"_Naruto_!" Ayame gaped at him, dropping the towel she had been holding. She touched his hand, pinched his cheeks, convincing herself that he was real. "The rumours were true," she said in disbelief. "You... you're alive!"

"'Course I am! What did you expect?" He grimaced as soon as he asked the question. _Baka!_ he berated himself, seeing through Ayame's feeble smile. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and searched for a change of topic. "So where's your dad?" he asked Ayame.

"He's not here," she told him.

Naruto felt his heart sink. "Don't tell me..."

"Yes, he retired. You'll have to put up with my cooking – isn't that horrible?" she laughed.

He exhaled the breath he didn't realise he had been holding, wishing away the residue dread that had washed over him only a moment ago. "Don't scare me like that, Ayame!" He tried to say it jokingly.

Ayame's reaction didn't give him the impression that he had managed the expression properly. She blinked at him, then seemed to come to a sudden realisation. "Oh, Naruto..." She began to reach for him, but soon faltered and drew back. The years prior to his 'death' had taught her that Naruto was no longer a child. Instead, she reached under the counter for a menu. "So what will it be? We have some new flavours." She smiled at Sasuke as she placed the menu in front of Naruto. "I'm assuming you will be having the usual, Sasuke?"

He grunted noncommittally.

"'The usual'? Am I missing something here?" Naruto had not missed the exchange, much to Sasuke's chagrin.

"Business isn't the best these days, but Sasuke has been a regular for a while." Ayame was blissfully oblivious to the glare the Uchiha shot her way. If anything, she was amused by the yield her words had over a jounin. She continued to add, "Maybe he missed you, Naruto."

He managed to restrain the temptation enough so that he could place an order for large teriyaki chicken ramen, upsized to 'Naruto' size. He even managed to wait until it was cooked and simmering in front of him. But as soon as Ayame ducked back inside, Naruto sinfully ignored the heavenly aroma of his meal and turned to Sasuke with a painfully conspicuous "Soooo..."

"Shut up."

"I was just about to comment on how spiffing your hair looked today. Pakkun's shampoo is good, eh?"

Naruto's face almost collided with his ramen bowl when Sasuke's hand connected with the back of his head, eliciting a crisp and familiar _thwack!_ sound.

_Some things really don't change,_ he thought, and realised that he was smiling. With a hearty "Itadakimasu!" he dug into his ramen. Ayame was not a top notch ramen chef's daughter for nothing, and he inhaled the noodles so quickly that he choked. Not even looking up, Sasuke pounded his back. Memories of his first meal with the Harunos flooded into his mind; of Sakura scolding him for his eating habits, and Kazuo introducing them. Wincing involuntarily, Naruto waved Sasuke off, heavy with thoughts, and choked again on his next mouthful.

Sasuke finished his meal shortly after Naruto called for seconds, and sat drinking sake. The few times the latter glanced at his unspeaking companion, Sasuke had been gazing into space, his hooded eyes filled with incomprehensible emotions. Naruto had learned to decipher those emotions over the years, but now he had no idea what Sasuke was thinking. He simply could not tell anymore.

"Four years, hmm?" he said conversationally. "So you're, what, twenty-one?"

"Twenty."

"But... oh. It's not November here, is it?"

Sasuke gave him a calculating look. "No, it's April."

Naruto frowned. He had arrived in Sakura's time believing it had been the fourth month. It was quite a coincidence; he was willing to bet that he would be able to guess what today's date was if he backtracked. The time distortions were perplexing. Why did he have to get sucked into a time that was his, yet not quite?

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered how much time had passed in Sakura's time in his short absence. She and Kazuo would worry about him if he was gone too long. He wished he hadn't been forced to leave so unexpectedly. In fact... a small part of him wished that he had never left.

"Baka!" He shook his head and swiped Sasuke's sake jug. He drank directly from it, ignoring the threatening glares from its owner. "Baka," Naruto muttered again to himself. Thinking like that felt traitorous to his friends. He knew he would do well to forget the time he had spent with the Harunos and start anew... but, somehow, the prospect saddened him.

Feeling that his appetite had abandoned him, Naruto quietly set down his chopsticks and reached for the sake again. He took a long swig from it, feeling the weight of Sasuke's look on him. He grinned sheepishly when he realised that he had finished the whole bottle. "I'll treat you next time," he promised.

"Hn."

"I'm sorry."

His apology drew Sasuke's look. They both knew that it was not about the drink.

"You do care about our village. I shouldn't have said that. You grew up there, too."

"As if anything you say would affect me. Don't think too highly of yourself." The Sharingan-user opened a second gourd of sake and poured them both a cup.

Naruto grinned and lightly tapped the edge of his cup against Sasuke's. "Cheers."

After drinking, Sasuke commented, "That wasn't like you."

"Nani?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Naruto winced. He didn't know why he was playing dumb. Sasuke was right – it was not his way to fall into denial. He dangled his cup in front of him for a while, but put it down with a sigh when it became apparent that passing time would not deter his teammate.

"I feel like I'm getting passed around like an unwanted soccer ball, on a field that has no goal," he admitted.

The finely arched brow was an indication for him to continue.

"Mm... I guess you could also say that it's like looking forward to Christmas with no presents."

He cycled through more analogies until Sasuke silenced him with a single look. "You don't want to tell me, do you?" he asked flatly.

Naruto grinned. "Just saving it for a bedtime story." He got up from his seat. "I'm going to go back. I'm tired. Thanks for treating me, Sasuke."

"I don't remember saying I would pay for you," Sasuke snorted.

"Aww, don't be a cheapskate. Have this then." Naruto patted his pockets and scraped up a handful of spare change. He tossed a coin to the other man, who snatched it from the air.

Sasuke studied the copper piece. "What currency is this?"

"Never you mind. It's not going to be worth anything here. Just think of it as a souvenir from the future."

"Like your clothes?"

Naruto stopped mid-turn and followed Sasuke's gaze down to his garments. He could imagine that the style of clothing looked a bit strange to others. He wore a shirt and a pair of trousers just like anyone else, but the difference was still there, lingering beneath the surface. Naruto realised that he felt just like his clothes – misplaced.

"Yeah, like my clothes," he said absently, slipping his hands into his pockets. "'Night."

"Oi, Naruto," Sasuke called, but the blonde simply waved a hand and walked off. The Uchiha turned away. Something was different about Naruto, and the time difference was not to blame. This Naruto was more evasive and seemed to have too much on his mind. Had this been four years ago, he would not have messed up his composure so badly. He would have been enraged and devastated, yes, but he wouldn't go so far as to expressively attack a friend.

Sasuke slowly flipped the foreign coin, his eyes glazing when he realised that he could no longer understand his best friend.

* * *

Instead of returning to the administration building, Naruto wandered without purpose around the village. It was nearing midnight and the majority of villagers had turned in for the night. He felt like he should join them; after all, he _was_ tired. The Kyuubi was no longer capable of revitalising him from chakra exhaustion overnight. In spite of his fatigue, Naruto did not think that being alone in an empty room was healthy for him right now.

He saw more of the Sand Village, wondering how many of his friends were resting in those homes. He suspected that most of them would be out on missions, or busy with other preparations. Standing at the edge of the quiet village, it was hard to tell that it was under near constant threat of invasion. It felt odd to be left out of the war – he was used to being smack in the middle of it. Too used to it, maybe. He couldn't tell when he had begun to tire of it.

The past month must have spoiled him. Naruto could feel it in his own veins. He could instantly tell that he would not be able to perform to his previous standards – not in terms of battle, but in motivation. He hadn't been able to stop working, bouncing from one station to the next, even burying himself in paperwork just to occupy time. Even back then, he had known that if he were to stop, he would run out of steam. Now, he had finally ground to a stop. It would not be easy relighting the spark within him.

After all, it was hard for a man who had finally witnessed peace and freedom to return to the battlefield.

Naruto was torn. He knew he had to fight, for he refused to live his life under Akatsuki's reign. They had to win. But his drive had been destroyed. No matter how selfless he could be, fighting for a village that was not his just... didn't seem to fit. He had lost almost everything in a single blow that had been struck when he hadn't even been present. He felt horribly cheated.

Deep down, he regretted using his chakra to produce that Rasengan. If he hadn't done that, he would probably still be living with the Harunos. His biggest worry would be being late for work and the largest threat to his life would be Sakura's mood swings.

Setting aside what was right and what was wrong, Naruto was agonisingly indecisive. When he had been in the future, he had never been able to stop thinking about his home and his friends. It had been so hard deciding to move on. But now, returned to his own period... nothing was as he had remembered. This was not what he had wanted, and he hated it.

He was aware that he was being unfair. No one had had a choice, so why did wish he had been any different?

But still...

_I don't belong anywhere..._

Naruto let his legs give way beneath him. He sank to all fours, clutching at the loose sand beneath his fingers. _Cry_, he willed himself. _Scream. Run. _But he couldn't. He was simply... numb.

Oblivious to how much time had passed, he made his way back to the administration building. Someone had been into his room while he had been gone. Laid at the end of the bed was a new jounin uniform. Naruto dropped heavily onto the mattress and ran his hand along the flak vest's leather-like fabric. He spread the uniform across the bed, but found no forehead protector.

After a long pause, he emptied his pockets of the spare change, old tissues and the notebook Sakura had given him. He peeled off his clothes, folded them neatly, and set them aside. Then he picked up the navy shinobi outfit and began to pull the shirt over his head.

"_You look pretty good in blue, Naruto."_

He froze. "Please get out of my head, Sakura," he murmured.

That night, Uzumaki Naruto went to bed feeling like the loneliest man on the planet.

* * *

A/N: Yes! I managed to finish before Christmas!

I had to change a lot of things about this chapter because I found myself unsatisfied with it. I'm still bothered about the angsty bits I've written, but I can't improve on it any further.

Sasuke being a good guy and letting Naruto take him back will hopefully be covered in future chapters. I have planned to explain a bit of history later on.

Nin song, 'Nin Machine' is the codeword that Sasuke set Team 7 during the Chuunin Exams. I looked up the manga to double-check.

'Tadaima' is 'I'm home' or 'I'm back' in Japanese, for those who needed clarification.


	6. Bring Me To Life

A/N: Whoa, tomorrow would make it two years since this story was updated. Didn't feel that long! With this chapter I have updated every in-progress story I have apart from Cherish and Memento. This day has been pending for far too long. Sorry about that.

Chapter 5 recap: Sasuke finds Naruto in the cave where Akatsuki once extracted part of Kyuubi. Naruto passes out, talks to Kyuubi, and wakes up in Suna to find that Konoha has been destroyed, Jiraiya killed, and that almost four years have passed since he was gone. Meanwhile, Sakura gets on with life, trying to come to terms with Naruto's disappearance. Naruto is depressed about his situation, Sasuke takes him to Ichiraku Ramen, they talk. Naruto gets some alone time, still disheartened.

And here's an early Merry Christmas!

* * *

**Chapter Six: Bring Me To Life**

~O~

How can you see into my eyes like open doors?  
Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb  
Without a soul, my spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
Until you find it there and lead it back home  
_Bring Me To Life – Evanescence_

~O~

Kankurou felt the shock waves from his office. He sprang out of his seat at once and whirled to the window. He caught but a glimpse of surprised villagers before the streets were engulfed by a powerful gust that whipped up a sandstorm on the spot.

"Those bastard Akatsuki-!" The Kazekage threw off his robe and charged toward the door. He was already unravelling a summoning scroll when the voice of his tactical advisor reached him.

"Calm down, Kankurou. It's not an invasion."

Kankurou whipped around, the scroll fluttering in his wake. He had completely forgotten about the conference he had been hosting with the other man until now. "What makes you so sure?"

The creak of a wooden wheelchair spinning around found Kankurou staring into dark eyes. "Don't you recognise this chakra?"

Kakurou paused as his companion jerked his head toward the window, where the storm outside was already starting to die out. Nara Shikamaru's expression was hidden behind the drifting smoke from his cigarette but Kankurou could hear it in his voice, could see it in his own reflection in the window pane. A blank turmoil of wonder, relief and, upon realising his own thoughts – disgust. But that was how it was; friends became pawns, and Kankurou had learned to deal.

"He's back."

* * *

The violent windstorm left smouldering cinders, flattened dunes and silence in its wake. Sasuke spat grit from his mouth and rose, brushing sand off his clothes. Upon contact, some of the small grains impossibly crumbled into miniscule specks of dust that were immediately swept away by the lightest breeze. Sasuke allowed himself a moment to taste the potent chakra lingering in the air. Raw, heavy, dangerous – just as he remembered.

Naruto raised his gaze from his hands, feeling Sasuke's wordless stare. After a long pause, he gave a half-hearted chuckle. "What?"

Sasuke bent down and reached for a kunai buried in the ground by his feet. His fingers brushed the hilt for a fraction of a second – the next it was slicing through the air with tremendous speed and purpose, en route for Naruto's eye.

A rush of wind surged into the training ground. The kunai froze halfway between the two men and vibrated violently for a moment, before falling soundlessly to the sand. Naruto hadn't moved. "What?" he repeated, his voice devoid of amusement.

Sasuke nodded at the ravaged field around them, studded with countless weapons that caught the glare of the sun's first rays. "You could have done the same with all of them," he said. "Why didn't you?"

Naruto grimaced and turned his head. "I didn't feel like it."

"You didn't feel like it," Sasuke echoed. "We've been sparring all week, and you're saying that I had to seriously endanger your life just to make you 'feel like' using a jutsu? What, did you think we were playing in a sandbox?"

"You're making it sound like this is my fault," the blonde scowled.

"Isn't it? You're a powerhouse. Why aren't you using chakra?"

"Because I tend to flip the skirts of women miles away when I do?"

Sasuke crossed his arms. "What are you doing, Naruto? You've been acting strangely ever since you got back."

Naruto could not help but snort, "I wonder why."

"Answer the question." There was a certain authority in Sasuke's voice that Naruto was unused to hearing. The fact that it was being used on _him_ further unsettled him.

Forcing down a flash of annoyance, he muttered, "You won't understand, teme."

"… You're scared."

Naruto snapped around with a deadly glare and indignant retorts on the tip of his tongue. But he fell mute when he met Sasuke's eyes. It kept slipping his mind that the man standing before him was Uchiha Sasuke, the teammate he had plunged into hell for and, since the outbreak of war, one of the only people he would let himself appear human to. He lowered his eyes. "Yeah… I am."

Although he would never admit it, Naruto's confidence was to Sasuke what it was to everyone else: a reliable constant. To have it subdued unsettled him, but no more than the knowledge that Naruto was, for once in his life, running away.

"Well?" Sasuke prompted. "What have you done about it?"

Naruto looked up. "What do you mean?"

"You can't live the rest of your life in fear, idiot. You don't know whether or not anything would happen if you used your chakra. You're just avoiding the problem."

Naruto began to grow heated. "And what if I _did_ disappear again? I'm needed here, aren't I? You're the one who said that, Sasuke, don't you forget it."

"Not if you're going to be useless."

Naruto's head snapped around when he heard the unfaltering truth in the words. Sasuke stood unflinching under his friend's angry look. Flatly, he continued, "You won't be allowed on the front lines if you're just going to do something stupid and get yourself killed in the first wave. I'll make sure of it."

"How is any of this my fault?" Naruto demanded, on the verge of tipping into anger.

"It becomes your fault when you don't do anything about it." Sasuke spoke with unnatural coldness, like a commander showing a greenhorn the frayed ropes. "Have you tried asking the Kyuubi?"

"I haven't had the chance to. I've been sleeping like a log." Somewhere in the back of his mind, Naruto was aware that he was grasping at straws. The realisation deepened his frown. He couldn't remember when he had started rejecting the truth.

"You're running out of excuses, dobe."

"Sasuke, drop it. I used a jutsu today; isn't that enough?"

"I don't have the time to be your personal assassin just to make sure that you do it again on the battlefield."

Naruto scowled. He knew he was acting like a child – but hadn't the last couple of months taught him that that he was allowed to? Sasuke had no idea – there was no reason he should. Naruto hadn't told anyone about Kazuo and Sakura. He couldn't help thinking that if he did, he would lose even those memories.

Sasuke shook his head. "Listen to me, Naruto. You know what it's like to fight in a war. You either hit the ground running or you trip, die, and drag down others with you. Talk to the Kyuubi. Soon. Understood?" When he received no response, he flicked the blonde's forehead. Naruto shot him a glare. "Understood?"

The blonde looked off to the side with a baleful expression on his features. The hand he had raised to his face slowly clawed over his hair before tightening into a fist and dropping to his side. Sasuke saw Naruto's eyes flash, heard his molars grinding together, and wondered if he was going to snap again.

Finally, Naruto answered with a tight "Fine" and went off to collect their weapons from the field.

Sasuke's gaze followed him. "You're mad."

"Am not."

"Liar."

Naruto stopped and straightened, his head lowered. Surprised, Sasuke uncrossed his arms.

"I changed," Naruto said in a quiet voice that Sasuke almost missed. "I don't know how, but I changed."

Uncertain of how he should respond, the Uchiha remained silent.

Naruto studied a kunai, twirling it nimbly in his fingers. "I can still fight. If I just put my mind to it, I can catch up to everyone else; make up for the lost years. But you know something, Sasuke?" He paused to chuckle faintly. "It's like my body's tired of this. It doesn't want to go back on the field… I just changed, somehow."

He stared blankly into the distance. Watching him, Sasuke realised just how far away Naruto was. But instead of acknowledging the truth, Sasuke lied without knowing why. "Not that much."

Naruto looked over his shoulder, surprised. Then, slowly, he smiled. "Yeah. Guess not."

* * *

One of the things Naruto had to get used to was how _quiet_ Suna was at night. Even with the fear of raids hovering over their heads, Konoha had had nightlife like no other. In some ways, people needed it. They needed the bright lights, open stores and chatter to escape; you couldn't keep yourself wound up all day. Naruto had been a firm workaholic until his friends had dragged him away from the squiggly maps of battle formations that he struggled understand. It had felt like they'd pulled him through a magical portal, into a world that lasted only a few hours each night. But it was that excruciatingly _normal_ world that fuelled him to face what was waiting on the other side of the portal in the morning, and until he found himself walking through the sandy streets alone, Naruto hadn't realise that he could no longer indulge in that fantastical world.

The pub was one of the only places open. Naruto had frequented it whenever he visited Gaara. He wasn't much of a drinker but Gaara could mix the most bizarre beverages that Naruto was still to this day wondering how he had perfected the art. The mere thought of Gaara drunk never ceased to set off uncontrollable snickers from his fellow jinchuuriki.

The tables were mostly empty but for a few lone veterans. Their heads came up when Naruto came through the door. He could tell that they were shinobi right away. They nodded respectfully to him, a gesture he returned. Despite everything, it seemed everyone still recognised him as a commanding officer, the fearless Uzumaki Naruto. _No pressure_, he thought to himself with a grim smile.

Naruto settled in a table in the corner. He nursed his drink rather than drank from it, letting the coldness seep through the glass and into his skin. To the outsider, he was a rock. The shinobi in the room recognised the look of a veteran but not for the first time, they wondered how someone as young as Uzumaki Naruto could have eyes older than theirs.

The pub gradually emptied, until Naruto was alone with the bartender, a middle-aged man with eyes magnetically attracted to the door. The man had seen his fair share of loud drunks and bar fights but nothing unnerved him more than a quiet night. He frowned when the door opened and let in a dusty breeze, but his face cleared when he recognised the newcomer. He nodded to the man and returned to rinsing the same glass.

"Oi. Are you going to drink that?"

Naruto raised his head. It took him a moment to recognise the face. Then he grinned. "Hey, Shikamaru! How nice of you to come keep me – _what_ is that?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Naruto's dumbstruck expression as the bundle in his lap squirmed. "Uh. A baby?"

"A – A – _here?_ This is a pub!" Naruto twisted in his seat and gaped at the bartender. The man gave a wry smile. He turned back to his companion. "Is he _yours?_"

Shikamaru nudged a chair around the table so he could park his wheelchair. The young boy reached with pudgy hands for the edge of the table. Shikamaru wrapped one hand around the baby's tummy and levered him up so that he was standing on his senseless legs, hands on the tabletop and staring open-mouthed at Naruto's stunned face. Then the baby yawned and Naruto blinked. "Holy Amaterasu. He _is_ yours."

"Yeah, he screwed up my plans. I wanted to have a girl and then a boy. Plus he's made his mother even more tyrannical." Shikamaru pulled his son back before he could nibble on Naruto's coaster. "It's so troublesome."

"Wow." Naruto stared at the kid. "What's his name?"

"Tarou."

Naruto took his eyes off the child for the first time. "You named your kid Tarou," he clarified.

"What's wrong with that?" Shikamaru shrugged. "It's nice and simple."

"With you as a father, we'll have to see how nice and simple he turns out," Naruto grinned. Shikamaru snorted. Naruto watched him casually fix the collar of his son's small jacket, and shook his head slightly. "Who would've thought, huh?"

Shikamaru absently rubbed his knee, feeling a phantom ache well up in his joints. The discomfort was nothing more than a figment of his imagination, though; Shikamaru had no sensation in his lower body at all, not since the battle against Deidara that had spelled out the Akatsuki member's death and had left Shikamaru's legs damaged beyond repair.

Naruto noticed the gesture and grimaced. "I didn't mean-"

Shikamaru waved it away. "Yeah, I know. I'm not exactly father material either."

"It must suck," Naruto said quietly after a short pause.

"Yeah. But everything works out alright. Saves me from all the bothersome stuff Neji and Shino have to do, and I have more time to look after this lazy ass." As if recognising his cue, Tarou slumped against his father's chest, contently closing his half-lidded eyes. "Oh, _now_ he decides to sleep. He kept me up all night." Shikamaru gently rubbed his son's back, his other hand flicking his wheelchair back and forth in a rhythmic rocking motion.

The sight brought a smile to Naruto's face. "What would Temari do if she found out you took her son to the pub?"

"She is not going to find out," Shikamaru said steadily. Naruto almost burst into laughter; his friend actually looked terrified. Shikamaru shot him a look. "She's not going to be back for another two days. She's out with her squad."

Ice clinked against glass as Naruto swirled his drink with a thoughtful expression. "You worried?"

"Between you and me," Shikamaru knocked the wooden arm of his wheelchair, smiling grimly, "I can't do anything even if I am."

Blue eyes lowered sightlessly to the scratched tabletop. "You're the smartest person I know, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru focused his gaze on his friend. "And you're the most troublesome person _I_ know."

Naruto laughed softly. When Shikamaru didn't respond, he sighed. A long, weary breath. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore, Shikamaru."

"You drew up one hell of a storm today."

"And it scared the hell out of me."

"Because you thought you would disappear?"

Naruto paused in the midst of running a hand through his hair and looked up. Shikamaru met his eyes unwaveringly. Of course. Shikamaru was the tactical advisor. It was his job to know about everything.

"I'm going to fight, Shikamaru. I'm not giving up."

"That's not what I'm worried about. But you're right in guessing that's what I want to hear."

Naruto smiled faintly. "Bastard."

"Thanks." Tarou whimpered in his sleep and Shikamaru adjusted his grip, holding his son closer as if that was all it took protect him from everything. "Do you know why I'm tactical advisor, Naruto?"

"Because you're smart."

"Because I can be heartless," Shikamaru said flatly. "I can do things most people can't, like sending my own friends and lover to missions they might not come back from. I can say things like, 'it doesn't matter if you think you changed; you have to fight because you are one of our strongest shinobi and we could really use you for this war'."

Naruto looked down at his drink, pensive. Then he brought his head back up. "What other things can you say?"

"That you're wrong if you think you're such an important piece that we can't see this through without you."

"Ouch."

"There's worse where that came from."

"Go on."

The two men shared a long look. Then Shikamaru heaved a sigh. He hadn't done this in a long time – reminding his friend that it was only because he possessed flaws that he was human. He couldn't say he'd missed it.

"You can't fix everything, Naruto. You can't save everyone."

"I know that."

"Then stop telling yourself that you can."

Naruto shook his head. His hands clenched around the glass. "I screwed up, Shikamaru. I'm the last jinchuuriki left and I let myself get captured. You know what that means."

"It means," Shikamaru said, "you're being unbelievably selfish."

Naruto's head snapped up. "What?"

"You heard me. You're not a one-man team." Shikamaru's voice was low but his words struck chords. "_You_ aren't the only one who screwed up, Naruto. You were gone for four years and in that time, we were the ones fighting. _We_ couldn't defend our village. We can't fix that, alright? I once made a miscalculation and sent three squads straight into a trap, to their deaths – _look_ at me, Naruto." Because the blonde had turned his head to one side, hiding his haunted eyes. "Stop thinking that everything is your fault. Think about us, the ones who were actually there the whole time. Think about how _we_ feel!"

Naruto didn't say anything. Shikamaru leaned back. "Damn it, Naruto," he muttered. "You know you're not fighting alone."

Silence fell between the two men. The bartender wiped down the bench and tactfully retreated into the storeroom. There was no sound but for the rustle of sand outside, and Tarou's soft, peaceful breathing.

When Naruto finally spoke, his voice was cracked, tortured. He had removed his hands from the table and had them clenched in the shadows. "I let him down, Shikamaru." He slowly raised his head, revealing agonised eyes. "I let him down."

Shikamaru silently watched his friend. In the back of his mind a roll of memories played, showing him all the times he had stayed up with Tarou and had a chuunin burst urgently into his house, all the hours he had spent by Temari's hospital bed, all the smiles, scowls and _Stop looking like that_ she had given him. He closed himself to all of it, something he was getting very good at doing.

Slowly, he backed his wheelchair away from the table. He laid a scarred hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "Jiraiya wanted you to stop the hatred in this world. Start with yourself. Forgive and forget, Naruto. Sometimes the only way you can fight is to pretend that you have nothing to lose."

Then he was alone. Naruto stared at his untouched drink for a long time, his dull eyes searching for something in the melted ice.

"_Say… why can't you go home?"_ Sakura's voice.

Naruto dropped his head into his hands and let the world revolve without him, while he sat there with trembling shoulders and muffled sobs.

* * *

"_I have to go somewhere, Sakura."_

… _Where…?_

"_Let me look at you properly… I don't want to leave you. I really don't…"_

… _Then why…?_

"_Be a good girl, Sakura. I'll see you again soon… maybe…"_

… _Wait…_

"Oi. Helloooo. _Sa-ku-raaaa!_"

The pink-haired girl slowly opened her eyes. Her vision swam.

"Oh, _now_ she's awake." Ino rolled her eyes. "So sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, Princess, but in case you've forgotten, we kind of have an exam in the next-" She checked her watch, "-fifteen minutes. Don't die on me now."

Sakura groaned and waited for the panic to consume her. It was a lost cause; she couldn't concentrate anymore. What made it impossible was the mysterious feeling that she had to hold onto the wispy vestiges of her dream for as long as she could. She always had for years, every time she had the same dream, trying to retain those words, that scent, those hands. This time, though, she couldn't help but feel that it was different. She woke up with an even larger hollow in her chest, with the thin voice whispering over and over again: _"I'll see you again soon… maybe…"_

Ino shook her head when she saw that her words were falling on deaf ears. "Geez Forehead, can't you at least pretend you're putting some effort into this so we commoners can feel more accomplished when we get better results than you?"

At this, Sakura jerked herself out of her reverie to shoot an accusing glare at her best friend. "Touch wood. Now." Her voice sounded distant even to herself. She shook her head roughly. She didn't have time for this.

The sound of breezy laughter reminded the two that they were not alone in the courtyard. "Relax, Sakura, you'll ace the exam even with your head halfway to Mars," Yamazaki Kenjiro chided from the next table. "It's us dummies who should be worrying."

Sakura turned to take in his amused grin, the easy tranquillity in his eyes, and couldn't help but wonder what was missing. When she realised what it was – an epiphany that struck her every morning when she entered the classroom to his perky greeting – she put on a teasing smile and replied, "Yeah, Mr I'm-second-in-the-grade, shouldn't you be worrying?"

"Actually, I was waiting for Miss I'm-first-and-can-afford-to-nap to explain enantiostasis to my humble self."

Ino leaned forward eagerly. "Explain it to me too."

But it was the fourth person that Sakura watched for, and when those meek eyes met hers, she forced herself to empty her mind. "Um… enantiostasis," she began, looking away. "It's a really easy concept once you understand osmoconformers and osmoregulators…"

She didn't think it would be so hard. She tried not to notice them; the way Ken let her look over his shoulder as he jotted down notes; the way he would laugh and pat her head when she looked confused; the way he shared his childhood – _their_ childhood – so easily with her. The way he said her name and how it rang with a certain joy that fell flat against Sakura's, even though they were in the same sentence, seen through the same eyes.

"Hey Sakura, can you help Yuumi with Punnett squares? You know I can't explain." She stared at that sheepish expression, the look in his eyes that no longer matched hers because he had finally left the past in the past, with her in it. Then she looked at the girl those eyes kept sneaking looks at, and suddenly all she could do was smile falsely because there was nothing else left for her to do.

"Come sit here and I'll teach you, Yuumi. The only thing Ken can explain coherently is tennis."

"Not true!"

Ino stared hard at her textbook and listened to her long-time friends laugh and bicker, just like they used to, because watching was simply too painful.

"Idiots," she muttered, and snapped her heavy textbook shut just as the bell rang, shrieking her doom.

* * *

"Pick up the slack, monkeys! One more lap!"

"We've done fourteen already!" one of the boys yelled down in breathless protest.

"Seventeen, actually," Naruto corrected conversationally. "What do they teach you at school?"

The smallest girl pouted and kicked her legs, almost succeeding in clipping Naruto's ear. "Can I come down? I need to pee."

He peered long and hard at her. "Let me think about it," he dragged out, and stroked his chin.

Another small kick. "Please?"

His tanned face broke in a wide smile. "Alright, cutie. C'mere." He bent over below the girl and with a beat of hesitation, she released the bar and dropped onto his back. He grunted as she hopped to the ground. "At least I know they're feeding you chimps," he sighed, brushing off his jacket. "Off you go. Toilet's that way."

The kids dangling over his head sniggered.

Naruto frowned at them. "What?"

"Toilet's _that_ way."

Blinking, he turned his head left and right. Hell, all the domed buildings looked the same. He scratched his head. "Yeah, yeah, just testing you."

"_Stuuuuupidd_!"

"Oi! That's one more lap!"

Naruto made no effort to hide his wicked grin as a chorus of groans rang from the dozen Academy students he had doing laps on the hanging obstacle course above. No wonder Iruka-sensei didn't resign despite all the catastrophic pranks he'd had to deal with. Naruto had been 'training' with these kids for two weeks now, and for some reason having a majestic sandcastle built on him during his nap entertained more than infuriated him.

What _did_ infuriate him was the fact that, fun as it was, he wasn't supposed to be babysitting six-year old children whose Academy instructors had been called to duty. But what downright incensed him was himself. He didn't know what he wanted anymore. Kankurou had told him he wouldn't be returned to full duty until they could determine what Akatsuki's recent lack of activity meant. Naruto was ashamed to feel relieved.

He absently watched the children clamber over a high ledge. The best interests of the village had always been his as well, but lately he had discovered a growing distance between the two. He didn't want to fight, but he would; he didn't want to be here, but he was; he didn't want to think this way, but he couldn't stop.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a sharp tug of his hair. He yelped and glared up at the culprit, who had already scampered away, laughing with his friends. Naruto stuck his tongue out. He patted his hair back down. It was more unruly than he was used to in Suna's windy climate. He made a mental note to get it trimmed. He was used to having a forehead protector keeping it from his eyes.

Then he heard a low cooing and looked over his shoulder to see Shikamaru bouncing a restless Tarou on his lap. Naruto suppressed a snort of disbelief at the sight. He still had mild difficulty coming to terms with the idea of Shikamaru as a parent.

"Shut up, you," his old friend grumbled flatly after one look at Naruto's face.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Sure."

Naruto crouched and beamed brightly at Shikamaru's son. The toddler stared back at him. He gently prodded a cherubic cheek; Tarou yawned. He raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru. "Does he always do that?"

"Only when he finds something boring, I suppose."

"Thanks man."

Meanwhile, the kids on the obstacle course had finished their laps and were loudly demanding their supervisor's back to step down on. Naruto didn't miss the smirk on Shikamaru's face. "Shut up, you," he returned.

"I didn't say anything," his companion chuckled.

Naruto held up his hands as he approached the squawking children. "Alright, alright. Sure you guys don't want another lap?"

"No!"

"No? You're not sure? Maybe one more-"

"_No_!"

Naruto winced, digging a finger into his ear. "I hear you. One at a time, okay? And don't squash me. It's not nice."

They began to squabble over the order. Laughing uneasily, he tried to placate them. "I know I'm popular and all but really… you don't… need…" The words died in his throat as he whipped around, blood draining from his face. He lunged even as he knew he was too slow. "SHIKAMARU-"

A thunderous plume of sand erupted before his eyes, rocking the vicinity with heavy shocks. The children screamed as the bars trembled beneath them. Blindly, Naruto snapped an arm to the side and a whirlwind rose between the playground and the storm of flame and shrapnel. Then he pivoted in time to throw himself back as a blur of bandages and jagged teeth shaved the debris inches from his face. He had barely regained his footing when Kisame Hoshigaki burst from the sand like a predator on a blood trail.

There was no time to be surprised, even though he really wasn't. Naruto quickly flattened to evade Samehada's next swing. Kisame's leg swept up even as the sword passed over his head. Naruto intercepted the blow with his arm and, gritting his teeth, thrust a hasty Rasengan into Samehada's underside as it snapped at him. It quickly began to devour his chakra with crazed frenzy. The Rasengan eroded away until all that kept Naruto's head on his shoulders was the hand forcing the ravenous sword from his face. Blood trickled down his arm in rivulets. He didn't flinch, even when Kisame leaned in within a proximity that made Naruto's breath catch in his throat.

"He misses your chakra," the Monster of the Hidden Mist grinned. "It's been too long. Where have you been playing mouse, Uzumaki Naruto?"

He smiled grimly. "Somewhere you pussies aren't allowed."

Kisame's lips peeled back in a humourless smile, flashing pointed teeth.

Bracing his leg against the sand, Naruto released Samehada and twisted away while the sword pummelled into the ground. He snapped up a roundhouse kick that Kisame countered moments before a spray of sand blinded him. Naruto sprang back to release a brace of shuriken – and cursed when his impaled opponent burst into a torrent of water. He whirled around, expecting Samehada's snapping teeth, and his eyes widened when he saw nothing but the large, frightened eyes of the girl who had returned from the toilet.

The petrified scream that split the air was drowned by Naruto's roar of outrage. "You low bastard – _let go of her!"_

Kisame eyed with distaste the crying girl he had dangling from her pigtails. "You peace-loving fools are very good at raising weaklings. Itachi was an exception." He frowned at the high-pitched sobs. "Do you want me to rip out your tongue?"

A guttural growl trembled in Naruto's throat. "Let. Her. Go."

"Why do you stand there like an idiot, Uzumaki Naruto?" Kisame spread his arms. The girl cried out as her scalp began to bleed.

The wind seemed to rush from his path as he lunged. Kisame shook his head. He was a fool, he knew. He was a fool for trying to deny the inevitable. He was a fool for letting Kankurou keep him in the village even when he knew that his life was all it would take to massacre hundreds of others. He'd known all along that they would come for him. He'd known and yet he couldn't stomach the reality that after all he'd been through, _nothing had changed_.

He knew, goddamn it.

"_STOP IT!_"

He couldn't breathe or see. All he could hear was the endless echo of his desperate voice reverberating in his skull, and the rush of blood in his head. Only when he felt a wetness on his shirt did he slowly look down at the girl held tight in his arms. Numbly, he realised that she was crying into his chest, grabbing him with such strength that it hurt. She was alive.

His heart almost imploded as he squeezed her even tighter. He patted her head with a trembling hand, trying not to stare at the mixture of both their bloods on his skin. "Shh… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" was all he could whisper as she cried harder.

"Tch. Deidara should have taken your arms, not your legs."

Naruto looked over his shoulder. Kisame stood with his back to him, arm still raised with fingers clenching a few strands of tawny hair. Samehada wiggled and strained uselessly for the prey it had been a beat from tasting.

Tracing the thick shadowy chains, Naruto let out a relieved sigh when he saw Shikamaru. He would never forget the murderous look in his friend's eyes as he cradled his son to his chest, whom he had shielded from the shards of shattered wheelchair that littered the back of his crimson-saturated vest.

"Quick, Naruto – I can't hold him for long," Shikamaru shouted hoarsely.

Naruto came to his senses. He stared at Kisame. Then he looked back at the trembling girl in his arms, who had calmed enough to watch him with fearful eyes. He tried to smile, but thought it came out as a grimace.

Kisame chuckled. "I knew it."

Shikamaru didn't understand what the Akatsuki member did, or wouldn't believe it. "What are you waiting for? Naruto!"

"I can't," the blonde said in anguish. He didn't meet Shikamaru's eyes, not wanting to see his betrayed expression. "I… can't."

Kisame began to strain, experimentally clenching his fingers slowly. Shikamaru didn't say anything, jaw rigged and defined. Then Tarou, who had been stunned into silence, whimpered and began to sniffle, and his father's strong arm braced him to his chest.

His hands flicked into seals. "Kage Kubishibari no Jutsu!"

Naruto watched the dark hand snake up Kisame's thick neck. It began to constrict tremulously. The sharkman watched the shadow with slitted eyes that suggested amusement.

Shikamaru cursed as his vision began to dim. He struggled to focus on Naruto, who had released the girl, risen to his feet and was speaking lowly to Kisame. "Why do you have to be so stubborn, Naruto?" he ground out.

Naruto pretended he hadn't heard. He continued muttering to Kisame. The latter smirked, all razor-sharp teeth.

"Naruto!"

Naruto stopped as if caught red-handed. "I can't do it, Shikamaru," he said finally. He looked at the children, his monkeys, and clenched his hand, nails cutting into repaired skin. "I can't do it in front of them."

"They'll see death anyway! If you don't-"

"I know. But we have a very short childhood, you know? I can't kill in cold blood in front of these kids if I can help it. You can't want this for your son."

"Listen, Naruto-"

"Let me do this, Shikamaru!" Naruto interjected loudly. He shook his head. "I remember what you said. You guys were the ones fighting while I was gone. Do you know how cheated I feel? Do you know what it's like to be tossed around and finish at a place that doesn't feel like home, where I can only make things worse by being here?"

He caught movement in the corner of his eye; jounins and chuunins had swarmed to the scene, warily spreading themselves. With Kankurou and Sasuke at a summit in Lightning, they felt a heavier duty upon their shoulders. If not for Naruto, they would have sprung on the fearsome intruder. As it were, they were barely holding themselves back while the jinchuuriki stood against the Kazekage's tactical advisor.

"Let me handle this, Shikamaru. Give me a chance to feel like I'm not a coward. I'll protect this place. Let me protect the king my own way." Naruto looked past Kisame at Shikamaru. "Let him go."

"No," the other man said. A flash of pain flickered across the deep lines of effort on his face, betraying fatigue. Shikamaru was having difficulty breathing. Still, he persisted. "I told you – you're not a one man team."

Naruto just shrugged and smiled helplessly.

At that moment, a sun broke out from a cloud directly above them. The shadows dimmed, slowly inching away. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. In one great heave, Kisame broke free. The sound of weapons being drawn filled the air, but no one moved.

Kisame paid no heed to the fact that he was surrounded. Instead, he glanced down at the figure standing beside him, blonde head lowered. "You're naïve, kid."

Naruto ignored him. His eyes were steel. "If you have a shred of honour, you will keep your word."

Shinobi tensed when Kisame swung Samehada over his back. "Don't tempt me."

"I'm warning you. If you so much as-"

"I said, don't tempt me, brat."

"_I said_," Naruto growled dangerously, sounding like a cornered animal, "_I'm warning you."_

Kisame just smirked. This was going to be fun.

Shikamaru yelled, but no one could move before the two men vanished. There was a beat of breathless silence, and then Tarou began to wail.

* * *

The worst weary, returning shinobi could be greeted with was a village in chaos. From the moment Hinata and Neji had failed to sense Suna's protective barrier even when they were well within its range, they had already prepared themselves for such a sight. They had been away for almost a month, after all. They had been due back earlier – much earlier – but Hinata was adamant not to return empty-handed and Neji never took risks when his clan's young leader was involved. Together, they had stretched a reconnaissance into an infiltration, ambush and intelligence-gathering raid. It wasn't their first and they knew Kankurou would be livid but grateful. They were used to this.

But even to this day, there were many things Hinata would never grow accustomed to, and the inescapable fear that put her heart in her mouth whenever she felt she was on the verge of losing something precious, was one of them.

"Neji," she breathed, even as her cousin's Byakugan seeped into his eyes, and he stopped a harried chuunin in his path.

"What happened here?" he demanded.

Relief was palpable on the man's face as he recognised the authoritative figure. Few rivalled Uchiha Sasuke in level-headedness and cold efficiency the way Hyuuga Neji could. As the agitated man began to explain almost incoherently, a small crowd of hasty shinobi rushed past. Hinata's heart skipped a beat when she recognised a familiar chakra signature.

"Shikamaru!"

She was by the stretcher so quickly the men carrying it flinched. Hinata barely noticed; she was staring horrified at Shikamaru. Her former classmate was in terrible shape, lying on his front to allow her a clear view of the bloody, impaled mess that was his back. Yet his grip, when he reached out to seize her arm, was strong.

Hinata started. "Shikamaru-"

"Go after him," he ground out hoarsely, breathlessly.

"Wh-Who?" Hinata hadn't stuttered in a long time. When she did, it was almost always bad news.

"Just go… go after-" Shikamaru sucked in a tight breath that hissed out through clenched teeth. His eyelids fluttered as his frown deepened. When he met Hinata's confused gaze, his eyes were agonised. "Naruto… go after Naruto!"

For a moment that felt longer than it lasted, Hinata wondered if she and Shikamaru had swapped places, if she were the one on the stretcher struggling to breathe as the name ripped up a fresh torrent of grief, pain and memories. Staring wide-eyed was all she could do to keep her mind in the present.

"Naruto?" Hinata whispered.

Shikamaru lifted a bleeding hand to cradle his son, who was sobbing by his face. His features twisted briefly. Anger? Regret? Distantly, Hinata wondered what had happened. But her thoughts were racing faster than a Shunshin and she realised she was slowly shaking her head.

"Shikamaru? What… what do you mean… go after Naruto? N-Naruto is-"

"Alive," Shikamaru said.

Hinata felt her mouth fall open, felt her lower lip tremble. She could hear her voice asking, "Where is he?" Not how, not why. Because Uzumaki Naruto could make the impossible happen. Hinata knew this.

To her surprise, Shikamaru chuckled – pain flashed across his scrunched-up features. "Where? Hah… I don't know. I don't know…" His voice trailed off and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Damn it, I don't know!" he shouted in sudden anguish.

The men supporting the stretcher shuffled uneasily. They were disconcerted by the amount of blood the tactical advisor was losing – but they knew better than to interrupt. They only watched as Shikamaru gripped Hinata's wrist so tightly it seemed like the blood that drained from his knuckles transferred directly into her flushed skin.

"Hinata," he heaved out. Abruptly, he flung his head to the side as if to shake off unconsciousness. "Find him. That idiot, he went off… just _go!"_ He released her at the last word, flinging her arm aside as if it burned him.

And she _was_ gone. Away from Shikamaru, past Neji and his confused calls after her, out the gates and plunging into the barren desert – all before she could breathe again. Her legs carried her across the sand as if they knew where to go. But they didn't and eventually Hinata felt herself slow to a stop.

With great control, she forced her mind to stop spinning. She tried to think, tried to be logical and strong as she usually was. But when her Byakugan showed her nothing but dunes and sweeping sandstorms, Hinata jerked into motion again. It was suddenly impossible for her to stand still while the seconds trickled by.

"Naruto…?" she called softly around the lump in her throat, as if she thought he would hear her. In the next instant, she ran her hand across her eyes in faint horror.

She headed for the country's border, trying to pretend she knew how to find him. Anything. She'd try anything. What was there to lose? It wasn't like she hadn't been forced to accept that Naruto was _gone_. She – they had lost him once already. That he was somehow back was nothing short of a miracle. It only proved that Naruto was _Naruto_, which meant that, wherever he had gone, he would be back. Right? It wasn't like…

Hinata pushed the heel of her palm into her eyes. A frustrated sob choked behind closed lips. She told herself it was the sand, over and over again like a mantra. But when the tears continued to fall, Hinata gave up trying to stop them. She let them slide down her cheeks, mingling with dirt and sand.

It was uncanny but shinobi always seemed to _know_. Hinata had dreaded the sight of Shino waiting outside her door, even before she had noticed that Kiba and Akamaru were nowhere in sight. She had started crying uncontrollably the moment Hiashi had patted her head as they stood surrounded in their dead, burning village, somehow convinced it was the last time she would see her father again.

And now, as she threw herself against the rough winds, Hinata felt a dizzying lurch in her chest that put fresh tears in her eyes. Maybe Shikamaru had felt it too. Maybe, by now, Neji would see what was going on and he, too, would understand. Maybe he would do as Hinata had, and throw logic and fatigue aside in search for that contagious hope that Uzumaki Naruto brought everywhere.

They couldn't help it. It was Naruto. Naruto was the reason for Hinata's fluttering joy and deep foreboding, the reason for her wet, shining cheeks and the reason she went after him, fighting the sinking feeling that, somehow, she was already too late.

* * *

Sasuke would call him an idiot. Somehow, that was all Naruto could think as he stepped through a low bush. It was funny how that made him smile. He could always rely on Sasuke for a reality check. Fortunately or unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't here – wasn't even close. Eyeing the black and red cloak swishing in front of him, Naruto wondered if he would feel better if he had Sasuke with him. He wasn't in the mind to try denying that he wasn't shivering with adrenaline and hoping muscle memory would get him further than he felt ready for.

"Oi," he called out sharply. "Are we there yet?"

A chuckle from Kisame. "Still loud and stupid, I see."

Naruto scowled. "What?"

"I could be leading you into a trap. You ever thought of that?"

"You're really underestimating me, aren't you?" Without breaking stride, Naruto ducked beneath a low branch that Kisame had purposefully let snap back behind him. "If you came looking for me in Suna expecting that I'd spare your life to lead you away from it, I wouldn't feel bad walking into a trap as ingenious as that."

This time, Kisame laughed. The rough, coarse bark drove the few birds in the trees into the air. "That almost sounded like Itachi. You used to be a lot more stupid."

Nerves or not, Naruto had a mouthful to respond to _that_ – but Kisame chose that moment to stop walking and the blonde boy halted just as abruptly to maintain the wary distance between them. "This can be our battleground."

There had been a time when Naruto couldn't tell an upside down map from a right way up one. He still couldn't, not without a helpful hand, but experience had kept him versed in geography. His priority had been to lead Kisame away from Suna. As soon as he had accomplished that, it gradually sank in that he had left a village of combat-ready shinobi to be alone in foreign land with an Akatsuki member at his back. Idiot indeed – but he refused to have it any other way.

Naruto was acutely aware of his situation when Kisame spoke up near Wind Country's border. He'd tensed, kunai flashing into hand, and whirled only to find his opponent rolling his eyes. "We're far enough from your precious little village, aren't we?"

They were, actually. "I want us out of the country."

"Then I'll lead. The way you're running around, we'll never get some action."

Now, Naruto surveyed Kisame's choice; a dark, deep tunnel. Kisame stepped into the dark without hesitation. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto followed. He missed the slight ledge at the entrance and splashed noisily into cold, shallow water. Kisame's laugh bounced hollowly off the rock walls. Grumbling, Naruto waded after him.

He was genuinely beginning to suspect a trap when the tunnel broke into a large, cavernous cave. With a jolt, Naruto realised where they were. He glanced at Kisame. "You're trying to be funny, right?"

The blue man walked towards the centre of the cave. "I'll bring you down in the place where you were supposed to die four years ago." He flashed a jagged grin over his shoulder. "Delightful, hm?"

Naruto moved away from the tunnel. "Yeah, yeah." It didn't matter to him where they fought. The fact that Kisame hadn't tried to ambush him along the way meant that the Akatsuki member felt the same way. From his brushes with him, Naruto could see that Kisame wasn't like that foul-mouthed Hidan. Hidan would've loved a rampage in the village. Kisame was focused only on his target; location and audience were irrelevant. Naruto was glad.

He would be even more grateful if Akatsuki would leave him alone. Only that was impossible for as long as he had the Kyuubi within him – and as soon as he didn't, the shinobi world would never be the same again. The fact that the other nations still stood meant that Akatsuki's plans had been foiled by Kyuubi's refusal to be sealed by them. Naruto felt a faint-hearted bubble of mirth tug at his lips – the Nine Tails was almost a saviour. Unlike him.

Naruto felt calm as he watched Kisame stop at the far wall and casually flex his neck. Everything he'd been through lately didn't really matter when it still came down to this. Naruto knew he was standing on a tightrope; one misstep and it would be Akatsuki's victory. It was enough to make him grimace.

Maybe he shouldn't have distanced their fight from Suna. Naruto had hardly doubted himself before – not because he didn't, but because he never gave himself the time to stop and think about it. Staying with the Harunos had changed that. The despair of standing in the wake of his own failure was too suffocating to ignore. He had lied to Sasuke, and Sasuke had lied to him. Uzumaki Naruto had changed.

_That's nothing_, he thought to himself. _All I've got to do is change again. Easy._ Because he'd seen it happen, every time he sparred with Sasuke. As soon as Naruto cleared his mind and stopped thinking, his body would know what to do.

"Question," Kisame said. He calmly swung Samehada from his back. "What kind of trick did you pull during the extraction?"

At least grinning was still second nature. "Trade secret."

Kisame snorted. "Fine. Here's a warning – Leader won't ask nicely."

Naruto's chakra rose to meet the heavy killer intent that weighed down the moist air. He was alone with the Monster of the Hidden Mist. Even Sakura would say he was stupid for putting himself in the situation. If he made it back to the village, Kankurou would skin him for sure. Naruto shook his head lightly. They wouldn't understand. They didn't know what it was like to be welcomed back into a life that had existed without him for years. A life his mere presence jeopardised.

He shouldn't have returned.

The water beneath Naruto's feet rippled.

A thunderous roar shook the cave as a geyser erupted from the ground. Samehada sliced through the empty air. Water cascaded down in a steaming spray.

Naruto dug his kunai deeper into Kisame's severed spinal cord. "I actually thought you were a one trick pony for a moment there," he grunted.

Water broke around his wrist as Kisame's disfigured form collapsed. Icy tendrils raced up Naruto's arm. Within seconds, they had snared him. Ignoring the chill of the ice freezing over his skin, Naruto clenched a fist, braced his feet into the ground, and let out a short yell. Chakra burst from his pores. Shards of ice tinkered to the ground.

Naruto whirled abruptly, kunai flying from his fingers. It slammed into Samehada's bandaged hide and the sword shivered, a foul chakra leaking through the binds. Kisame grinned behind the large sword. Naruto didn't think before diving forward as a wave of bullets flew above his head.

Movement in his peripheral vision. Naruto shot up in a back flip as Samehada cut below him. The blade brushed past his shin, leaving behind a hot, unpleasant tingle, before it slammed into the wall. Kisame didn't stop. Still airborne, Naruto quickly braced himself as a heavy fist threw him backwards with incredible force.

Kisame's hands blurred. "Suiton: Suikodan no jutsu!"

Naruto's feet had barely touched the rough wall when his opponent became obscured by a vortex of water that bled into jagged teeth. It flew at Naruto with a howl. The blonde narrowed his eyes and his fingers clenched with chakra, the air beneath his palm vibrating uncontrollably. Staring into the shark's gaping mouth, Naruto snapped his arm out to the side like a knife.

The jutsu broke two. Kisame rapidly sidestepped in time to evade the blade of wind. His brow pulled down in concentration, Naruto flicked his wrist sharply. It took a beat for Kisame to realise and flicker across the cave as a deep horizontal gash tore into the rock behind him. Wryly swiping a trickle of blood from his cheek, Kisame twisted his head in time to see a mass of shadow clones filling his vision.

Naruto straightened as his opponent disappeared beneath the bodies. Unconsciously, he flexed his right hand. He had a good grasp on Baki's jutsu by now – had for years – but controlling the unruly wind blades once they had left his hand took effort. Kisame probably wouldn't fall for that one again.

Which was why, after Kisame threw off the clones with a large jet of water from his mouth, he spun and found the original Naruto standing between him and Samehada. He smirked.

Twin surges of water discharged from their heels as the two of them shot forward.

Kisame's blows were hard and powerful, shuddering up Naruto's limbs with each impact. The large man was surprisingly lithe and agile for his size, but Naruto thought he could be faster. And he was. He knocked the Akatsuki member back a step with a well-placed kick and was already behind him before the latter could put up his guard. A quick sweep took Kisame's legs out from beneath him, while the strong grip Naruto had on the back collar of his cloak easily jerked the sharkman back and over the crouched blonde. Bracing his hands against the wet ground, Naruto tried to remember if he'd ever mastered his favourite jutsu without handseals.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" he forced out through gritted teeth, only a second before his legs shot up and slammed into Kisame's broad back.

Naruto didn't stop even when the faint pops of a dozen clones springing into existence signalled that he had been successful. He quickly put both hands together, chakra whirling between his palms. His eyes tracked Kisame as he was successively pounded upwards by each clone. _Faster_, _faster_, he mentally urged when his opponent momentarily hung in the air. Then the last clone sent its knuckles hammering into Kisame's ribs and the man plummeted. Naruto drove his right arm upwards.

"_Rasengan!_"

Blood spurted into the air. The water by Naruto's feet grew pink.

In the dim darkness, Kisame's jagged teeth flashed eerily. "Who's the one trick pony, hmm?"

As familiar, searing needles of pain pricked his palm, Naruto had to admit that it was probably him. To think that Kisame had kept a thread of chakra attached to Samehada's hilt all along, and that he could jerk the sword across the cave and beneath his falling body in the flick of a finger. He was a lot trickier than Kakuzu and Hidan.

As the howl of his Rasengan began to die, Naruto could only pull his arm away and leap backwards as Samehada came crashing down on his previous spot. The sword was bulging beneath the bandages, and it let out a muffled whine of pleasure. Chuckling, Kisame spit out a small wad of blood and blew the bandages off with a casual chakra surge. The scaly sword shook itself out with sinister sentience, its serrated fangs gleaming. "Told you he misses your chakra."

"No kidding." Crimson dripped steadily from Naruto's hand. The wound wasn't as deep as the first time he'd been forced to catch Kisame's sword but it was enough to be a hindrance. He waited for the familiar warmth of his skin stretching back together, the tingle of torn muscle rejoining.

Instead, he was knocked back a step by the sudden vertigo that had dropped on his head.

Naruto muttered a curse and steadied himself. He didn't remember taking a head wound and even though blood was streaming from his torn palm for the second time that day, it was far from enough to make him this woozy. Across from him, Kisame seemed to raise an eyebrow. Naruto frowned as he glimpsed faint, ghosting outlines of the Akatsuki's head.

Kisame's lips were moving. It took far too much concentration for Naruto to tune out the distant buzzing in his cranium in order to hear him. "Didn't get enough sleep?"

Maybe that was it. But that was only wishful thinking. Naruto knew what insomnia felt like, and it had never made staying upright this difficult.

Then Kisame was lunging at him again. Biting out an expletive, Naruto flung himself out of the way as Samehada snapped under his arm. Grounding his teeth against the way the ground seemed to tip beneath his feet, Naruto twisted with a kunai. Kisame caught him by the wrist. His knee rushed up to quickly to be avoided. Naruto threw himself backwards but it did little to lessen the jarring crunch against his jaw. His head snapped back, his teeth coming down hard on the inside of his mouth.

He hardly felt the chill of the shallow water as he crashed into it. There was no time to do anything but roll to the side as Kisame's large presence bore down on him. Shakily flipping back to his feet, Naruto blindly pulled his hands together and summoned a flurry of clones to stall.

He'd meant to use the opportunity to shake himself out of whatever untimely nausea had hit him – something he'd eaten, maybe? But Naruto had not counted on his surroundings to start spinning, the echoing sounds of Kisame's snarls to drone into a steady pounding in his head.

He staggered backwards and knocked into something hard and rough. _A wall_, he thought faintly, and it occurred to him that this was very bad. He was cornering himself. But his knees were trembling, his head was aching, his hand was still bleeding, and he suddenly couldn't tell which way was up anymore. All he knew was this felt vaguely familiar, yet for the life of him he could not remember when and where he'd experienced it.

"Shit," Naruto mumbled. This was so bad. If this went on, Kisame would be able to throw him around like a doll.

He didn't know what the hell was going on with him, only that he needed more time. Kisame had almost ripped through all the shadow clones. With great effort, Naruto lifted his hands. "Kage bun-"

_Fool!_

The guttural growl broke into Naruto's consciousness like a dam. If not for the wall behind him, Naruto would have been tipped off his feet. The ground refused to stay still.

"Damn it, Kyuubi," he muttered heavily. He was breaking out in cold sweat. When he blinked, the world went black and the Nine Tail's large, slitted eyes flashed. Panicking, Naruto blinked rapidly and shook his head until the dim cave swam back into sight. The faint blurs flickering in the distance had to be Kisame and the clones. He could've sworn they hadn't been so far away before.

_Fool!_ the Nine Tailed Fox snarled again. _You did it again!_

_What? Did what? _Naruto thought. He didn't really trust his voice at the moment, just in case slurred words weren't the only things that came up.

_You disrupted the chakra balance. We're starting to fade!_

_... Fade?_

_Thanks to your idiocy, we are being rejected from this time. We're being pulled back into the dimension rift, you dense bull._

Naruto didn't hear the insult. The thick fog in his head gave way to a rising sense of dread. _What do you mean?_ If he was speaking aloud, his voice would be nothing above a whisper.

He could imagine the demon snorting in exasperation. The Kyuubi was agitated. That was enough to thicken the foreboding in Naruto's gut. He hadn't seen the Nine Tails this riled since... since...

Since they had realised that Sakura's world was not their own.

Eyes widening, Naruto quickly looked down at his hands. Relief rushed through his trembling body when he saw that they were still whole, solid. But then he curled his fingers slightly and realised that he could not feel them. "No," he murmured. "No, no." He clenched his senseless fists. "Kyuubi! Make it stop! Do something!"

_Do not order me around, human,_ the demon roared in his head. _You should not have let your chakra reserves fall so low that you would draw on mine._

With a jolt, Naruto recognised that hollow pang in his navel. Empty chakra reserves. The same as when he'd woken up in the park to find himself in a world where ninja did not exist.

In spite of it all, he managed to ask, _What does using your chakra have to do with this? Are _you _pulling us through time to get out of this? I swear, if you're the one-_

_Look at where we are, Naruto,_ the Kyuubi hissed through his scrambled thoughts. _This is where those ignorant hooligans tried to extract me from you. _This_ is where I tore through time and space._

Naruto stared at the walls of the cave, even further away than before now, as if he were already – no! He gripped the rock behind his back, his nails splitting against the stone. It didn't hurt. He hadn't come here for this. He was supposed to defeat Kisame and protect the people he'd failed once already. He wouldn't let this happen. He couldn't. He had to stay around for Sasuke to scold him for being so stupid, and he'd take those scornful words every minute of every day if it meant he could stay. He couldn't abandon them.

_... confirms it_, the Nine Tailed Fox was muttering. Naruto was too numb to respond but the demon continued anyway. _I am a body of chakra. Almost half my chakra is sealed in that statue in the timeline we came from. I have enough presence in your body that it anchors us in the present. But you broke that balance. Now it's dragging us back through the rift._

Had Kisame planned this? Was this why he had chosen this place to do battle? But Akatsuki didn't know where Naruto had been. The world had given him up for dead. Suddenly, Naruto felt like laughing. Was this just the gods mocking him, messing around with his fate like they had done since his birth?

"I'm not going anywhere," he said aloud. But when he looked down, he saw that the water was no longer rippling around his feet. This couldn't be happening. He had to stay here. He had to...

Naruto's stomach plummeted as he remembered what it was like to wake in the future. What if the next time he opened his eyes, he was in another unrecognisable place? A place without Sasuke, Shikamaru, or Akatsuki, without Sakura and Kazuo?

He'd break. He knew it. Uzumaki Naruto would break.

He wasn't really watching, but it was hard to miss the sudden stillness in the cave. His clones had been defeated. Kisame was walking towards him, slowly. Maybe he could still be killed in this state. He was still _here_, wasn't he?

_You knew this would happen,_ Naruto found himself thinking dully.

_I speculated,_ Kyuubi retorted. _This_ _cemented my suspicions._

He didn't even feel... _whole_ enough to be angry. _You should have told me, bastard. I would have-_

_What, quit trying to be a hero?_

Naruto froze.

_You'll fight at half your capacity, will you?_ the demon went on listlessly. _You'll break away from the front lines to hide until your chakra returns and do nothing while those ants you so call your precious people fight to keep you alive. You'd do that, wouldn't you?_

Kisame was drawing nearer. His strides were unhurriedly. He didn't know what had shaken his opponent, but one thing was sure: Uzumaki Naruto was not going anywhere.

Naruto didn't feel his knees give way. _Shut up_, he thought limply.

_I can't tell what timeline we'll be spat out in. I would think it would take us back to where we came from, but we shot hundreds of years into the future the first time. Worse if those blasted gods interfere. They always hated me._

_Shut up. Just… shut up._

Kisame's hand seized Naruto by the jacket and pulled him to his feet. Naruto was dimly surprised that he was still tangible. "Now what happened to you?" he asked, his voice tiny and far away to Naruto's ears. "I was hoping for a bit more fun before Leader got his way with you.

Naruto idly stared back into the inky eyes fixed on his pale face. Leader. Pain. Pain would be glad. After four years, the last pawn in his plans had shown up on his own and presented itself on a platter. He'd have the rest of the Kyuubi and whatever sick domination he had in mind would be realised. Too bad Naruto wouldn't be around to congratulate him.

Kisame began to drag him across the cave. Something niggled at Naruto's skull. Something felt wrong. He was still here. Would he still be here when they began the extraction process? What would happen then? Or would he be gone?

It didn't matter. He could hardly think. He didn't care anymore.

"Hakke Kushou!"

The world spun once more. Somewhere above, Kisame was cursing. Naruto fell hard on his back, the impact barely registering anymore. Kisame had released him. Then a desperate cry shattered the insensible haze and Naruto came up as his mind snapped back to the world, his eyes wider than they had ever been.

"Naruto!"

Trembling, Naruto lifted his head. Someone was dancing around Kisame, dark hair flying. Bright blue flares of chakra sniped at the irritated man.

"Hinata," Naruto muttered. With great difficulty, he levered himself up on a trembling elbow. "Hinata!"

"Naruto!" And she was suddenly in front of him. "Are you alright? I can't believe I actually found-" Her voice broke off, the hand she'd reached out faltering. "What's happening to you? Naruto?" she whispered.

He looked down. He could hardly see his arm anymore. "Ah, crap," Naruto chuckled softly, hoping Hinata wouldn't see how he was barely holding together at the seams. He tried to grin at her. "I kind of messed up. I need to go somewhere else, Hinata."

Her eyes widened, her mouth opened dumbly. "Where?" she managed to ask, finally.

Naruto tried to shrug. Instead, the strength drained from his arm and he fell back to the ground. Hinata reached out to catch him.

He fell through her hands.

Hinata couldn't breathe. She could feel Kisame coming up behind her. Now, he stopped, dumbstruck by what both of them had seen. Uzumaki Naruto had fallen right through her arms.

The expression on Hinata's face put a weak smile on Naruto's translucent one. He hadn't seen her since he came back. She had been on a mission, supposedly. At least Kisame wouldn't be the last one to see him. Naruto was glad. He'd be protecting her by fading from this timeline, wouldn't he? He'd take the Kyuubi with him and foil Akatsuki again. His friends would continue fighting the way they had for four years, without him. At the end of the day, maybe he wasn't supposed to be here. This wasn't where he belonged.

"Hey… Hinata?" She looked too horrified to cry. Then again, even back in his time, Hinata hadn't cried easily since their genin years, when she had sworn on it during their first Chuunin Exam. Thinking back widened Naruto's smile. "Thanks for finding me."

She gave a choked laugh. "You're welcome." She knelt down beside him. Her hands shook in her lap. She wanted to touch him, but that wasn't possible. Naruto was leaving. Hinata didn't know what was happening to him. All she knew was that she _had_ been too late – too late to arrive, too late to tell him how glad she was that he was alive, too late to ask him what sort of adventure he'd been on. Too late to touch him, because surely he would shatter into a million fragments if she tried now.

He couldn't move anymore. "Tell everyone I'm sorry, will you? Especially Shikamaru. I tried to be a hero and screwed up."

Biting her lip, Hinata shook her head lightly. "I'm sure you did the right thing," she told him.

"Heh. Oh, and tell Sasuke I'm an idiot. A really big idiot."

"I… I will."

Darkness was encroaching. "And… tell everyone I didn't get captured. I'm going to… well, I don't have the right to say I'll protect them… but tell them I didn't lose."

"No one would believe me even if I said you did." Because he was still alive when they had all thought he was lost. Hinata knew Naruto would continue to live, wherever he went, whatever happened to him.

She could barely see him anymore. He was like a vapour. Hinata could hardly breathe. She didn't dare blink. But she dared to do the one thing she thought she'd never be able to.

Through the darkness, Naruto heard Hinata's soft voice. His eyes flew open for an instant before he sank into the black oblivion once more. It was enough for him to see the tears shining on Hinata's cheeks.

Then he was gone.

* * *

The cave was utterly silent but for the slow drip of water sliding down Hinata's fingers. Her hand was raised towards the ghostly figure that had been the boy she admired. With a soft splash, she let it trail into the shallow water that she now noticed cloaked the cave floor.

"Well, well, well." The low voice reminded Hinata that she wasn't alone. "Leader won't be happy about this."

Hinata's eyes flashed. Naruto was gone – maybe he was never meant to stay in the first place. But for now, she could be irrational for once and blame Akatsuki. They were the ones who had ruined her village, slain her father and hunted Naruto. If she let Kisame walk away, Hinata knew she would never be able to live with herself even if she had the life to.

Slowly, she got to her feet. "He won't be finding out through you," she promised the man standing before her.

Kisame had been staring transfixed at the spot Naruto had occupied. Now, he glanced at the fire in those pale Byakugan eyes. "I have no business with you, Hyuuga."

Chakra sparked at her fingertips. "I'm sorry, but I do."

Kisame regarded her. Why not? He didn't want to think about how he was going to explain this to Pain, and this girl was claiming he wouldn't have the chance to. He raised Samehada. "You'll die, you know," he told her with a low chuckle. "I won't hold back on a girl."

Hinata wiped the back of her hand across her wet face as she fell into a tight Jyuuken stance. "Please don't underestimate me. Sasori of the Red Sand regretted it."

A flicker chased through Kisame's dark, predatory eyes. So this was the girl who had brought down Sasori. His thin lips quirked into a smirk. "So what'd you say to that mouse?" he asked conversationally as he stretched his neck. The air grew thick with the weight of his chakra once more. "Last minute love confession?"

Hinata smiled faintly. "Exactly."

* * *

"Leave the dishes to me."

Sakura yelped in surprise. The plate in her hand slid back into the soapy water and flushed a minor tsunami over her apron – distantly, she was glad she was even wearing one. Then she turned around to glare at her father. "What kind of doctor tries to give his daughter a heart attack?"

Kazuo paused in the process of rolling up his sleeves. His eyebrows were raised. "I wouldn't know because I wasn't exactly trying," he answered dryly. "I did tell you I would clean up while you were cooking. And while we were eating. Oh, and when you picked up the apron." He chuckled at the blank frown on his daughter's face and began to pull the apron over Sakura's head despite her protests. "Go to bed, Sakura."

"I'm not sleepy," she told him, but Kazuo smoothly manoeuvred her away from the sink. Sakura knew defeat when she saw it. "You haven't done the dishes in years, Dad. You should leave it to the professionals."

"You exaggerate. I did raise you for fourteen years, young lady."

Sakura's gaze dropped. Feeling a sudden need to do something, she pulled Kazuo's hands away and tied the apron for him. Anything with knots and her father developed butterfingers; aprons, ties, shoelaces. He was as bad as Naruto.

Now she felt the burning urge to say something, anything, to take her mind off what she'd managed to avoid for almost a week. "It's already been fourteen years, huh?"

Kazuo picked up the sponge and the plate Sakura had dropped. "Surprised?"

"No. I don't really remember her," his daughter murmured.

For several minutes, the only sound was the clinking of chinaware. Kazuo was slow with the dishes, scrubbing each twice over before they were allowed on the rack. "We can talk if you want, kid," he said. "But we both know it'd keep you up tonight."

Sakura smiled. "It's okay." Staring at her father's back brought a wave of nostalgia. When she was little, it was the only thing she would have her eyes on in a crowd, her tiny hand clenching the tail of his shirt as he cleared a path through the shoving bodies. Now, she was almost as tall as him. She wanted to rest her head against his back and clutch his shirt again, but then Kazuo moved to reach the pot and Sakura had to let him pull away. She felt silly. How old was she? "You haven't called me 'kid' longer than you haven't done the dishes," she pointed out instead.

Kazuo chuckled. "Well, it's been a while since you wanted to be treated like a child."

Fourteen years had imparted Kazuo with a mother's intuition. Then again, Sakura couldn't remember ever being misunderstood by her father. He'd always known her, even when she wasn't so sure herself. It was something she had taken for granted.

Resting a hand on his arm, Sakura leaned up and brushed a light kiss on her father's cheek. "Goodnight, Dad."

He lightly bumped his head into hers; Sakura was grateful that he didn't try to ruffle her hair with his soapy hands. "Sleep tight, kid."

Kazuo knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. Some days were just like that. The fact that he'd pushed her to bed anyway was a sign that he was worried. So Sakura obediently went into her room and pulled the blanket over her. Back in elementary school, she would count the cars that drove past her window until it lulled her to sleep. It was a quiet street and she was usually never got up to twenty. Sakura was on thirty-two when she heard her father retreat into his own room. At sixty-five, the house went still and she knew Kazuo was asleep. She lost count soon after that.

Sakura rolled over to face the wall, shutting her eyes. Her mind refused to quieten. She was unusually restless today. Hours of boring holes in textbooks had been fruitless. Sakura didn't understand. It wasn't like she was _trying_ to give herself insomnia. No matter how nervous she got during exam period, this had never happened before.

The wall light up faintly as another car drove past. Eventually, Sakura sighed and reached behind her, fingers knocking over clocks and keys before they found her phone. She knew she was in trouble when she wasn't even in the mood to tidy her mess.

Flipping the phone open, Sakura stared at the bright screen. It almost gave her a headache until she started scrolling through her contacts. The small bar at the top of the screen told her it was almost three o'clock. Ino would usually be up at such an unholy hour, but since they had an exam in the morning, Sakura was certain her friend had tucked in well before midnight, burrowing beneath her pillow in self-denial. Whenever she was overwhelmed, Ino simply shut down and slept it off. A small, envious smile tugged at Sakura's lips.

She continued down the list even though she knew there was no one she could call, awake or asleep. Still, it offered her a little comfort and Sakura was beginning to feel a fraction drowsier when 'Kenjiro' came up.

Sakura stared at the name and the number that she knew as well as her own. Ken would be asleep; he never stayed up past midnight. Except when she called him. Then they would stay up trying to bore each other to sleep with off-tune lullabies, newspaper articles and false snores. Sakura's finger hovered over the green button.

Then she snapped the phone shut and closed her eyes. _Don't be an idiot, Sakura_, she told herself.

She gazed at the dim glow on her walls while it slowly sank in that she would never be able to call Ken like that again. He was too kind to turn her down. He would let her indulge in selfishness for a few hours and be a fool, and that was what held Sakura in check. She was a realist and the one person she couldn't lie to was herself.

The light steadily grew brighter. Sakura patiently waited for a large truck of some sort to trundle by. It would probably be number one hundred and thirty.

The seconds crawled by, then minutes. Maybe it wasn't a truck, she reasoned absentmindedly. It wasn't important. Sakura's eyelids were actually beginning to feel a little heavy, enough that she might get an hour or two before her alarm mercilessly went off. At the same time, something was keeping her awake, and it wasn't her thoughts.

It was heavy and raw. Sakura wasn't sure if it was a gut feeling or the atmosphere. She only knew that she could feel it, and that it was slowly thickening. She didn't think much of it.

At least, until her room burst into blinding light and a forceful gale whipped up from thin air.

Sakura didn't scream. In fact, her first instinct was to burrow into her blanket, and it was in the darkness and warmth that she lay curled up with her erratic breathing loud in her ear. The storm ended as quickly as it started. Abruptly, it was quiet.

There was a soft _thunk_ as something fell to the carpet. Sakura pictured her clock, knocked over by the strong winds, teetering on the edge of her bedside table before plummeting.

Someone moaned.

Sakura erupted in a fit of coughs; she'd suddenly forgotten how to swallow and had wound up choking. Lying utterly still, she waited for Kazuo to crash through the door. _Come_, she found herself pleading. But what she heard next wasn't her father's anxious call – it was another voice she recognised.

"Ow."

She'd thrown off the blanket before she knew what she was doing. The light on the wall had all but faded, but the sudden shift of shadow told Sakura she had surprised him. She stared at his silhouette, illuminated by the next car that drove by. She didn't know if she should turn around. Her throat was dry.

"… Sakura?"

She turned around.

The first thing she registered was the absolute chaos that was her room. It had been worse last time, but it was a bleeding miracle that Kazuo had not barged in to investigate.

The second thing she noticed was his hair. It was too bright to miss.

The third was the hand he was wincing at. And the dark blood oozing out of it.

Sakura was out of her bed in an instant, her eyes wide. "What did you-" she began, before her foot caught on a French dictionary that had flown off her desk. As she fell forward, the absolute horror on his face was all she saw. That, and the arms he had automatically raised.

They crashed to the floor. The top of her head knocked into his chin and they both flinched. "_Ow!_"

In the next room, Kazuo grumbled in his sleep.

The two of them were still as stone apart from their rapid breathing. Sakura was gulping in quick, shallow breaths. She knew he was, too, because the chest on which she was sprawled across rose just as quickly as her own.

Another car. Light on the wall.

He was warm beneath her, solid. Real. Sakura sucked in a large breath. "Am… am I heavy?"

"A little." His breath fluttered by her ear. "But you can stay there. I don't mind."

She suddenly wanted to pinch him. She did. He didn't disappear.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"For calling me fat," she lied.

"I did not say that." He squirmed beneath her. Sakura shifted so that she didn't have her elbow in his diaphragm. For a long moment, they just lay there, side by side on the floor amidst a mess of books and furniture.

It took several more moments for Sakura to find the voice to ask, "Naruto? Is your hand okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." He paused. His breaths became slow and deep. "I'm probably staining your carpet though."

She couldn't help but laugh – at his befuddling priorities, at the situation, at the way they pretended he'd only forgotten his keys and climbed through her window for the umpteenth time. "You can explain that to my dad."

He laughed too. It sounded forced. "You're not going to ask me how I got hurt?"

At this, Sakura shuffled self-consciously. Her head was on his shoulder and she closed her eyes with a sigh. "I want to ask a lot more than that, idiot. I want to know why you're in a lady's room without invitation."

"Sorry. I swear it's not my fault."

"And I want to know what happened to you. Why did you…" Leave? This wasn't his home. He had never been obligated to stay. Sakura shook her head. "Where the hell did you go?" she demanded.

Silence. Neither of them breathed. Then Naruto's arms were around her, squeezing her to his chest. As soon as the shock broke through, she struggled to push away – but he held her fast and easily. It didn't quell the panic rising in Sakura's chest and she continued to beat at him until she realised he was trembling.

Slowly, her hands unclenched and she let him bury his face in her hair. He didn't do anything more. Eventually, she relaxed into his embrace and closed her eyes. She didn't realise she had been softly hushing him until he gradually stopped shaking. Lying there, the only thing louder than his breathing was the rumble of tyres on asphalt. Sakura began to count. She didn't remember reaching fourteen.


	7. Never Meant To Fail

**Chapter Seven: Never Meant To Fail**

~O~

There's something I'm feeling  
There's something that's wrong  
These streets are revealing, in the early morn  
The war was last night, these wounds are not healed  
_Never Meant To Fail – Alex Lloyd_

~O~

Her bed was unusually hard today. Not to mention that when her alarm broke into her drowsy thoughts with its shrill cry, it was not the bedside table that her searching fingers found. Also – where was her blanket?

Sakura frowned and blinked blearily, rubbing at her tired eyes. _I'm sleeping on the floor_, she realised vaguely.

A second later, she bolted upright. The disarray of her belongings strewn chaotically across her room brought back the early hours of the morning in scrambled snippets. As green eyes widened, Sakura grasped that the confused panic rising in her chest had nothing to do with where she had been sleeping.

She was alone.

_Calm down,_ she ordered herself. The apocalyptic state of her room was proof that she hadn't just woken from a ridiculously far-fetched dream – she couldn't tell if she was relieved or glad about that. Still, Sakura's heart was beating faster than normal as she picked herself off the floor and followed the sounds of running water.

She couldn't help but sigh when she reached the bathroom. Seeing him standing there, ruffled and bed-headed, flooded her with overwhelming relief. She had only just taken in his red hand in the sink when he noticed her, his head snapping around with frightening speed. When he saw her lingering at the doorway, the caution flushed from his face while his features broke into a sheepish grin. Sakura tentatively smiled back.

"Morning." Naruto jerked his head. "Your, uh, alarm is still going."

So it was. "I'll be right back."

Quickly silencing her clock – which had somehow been swept beneath her bed – Sakura found herself rummaging through the storage cabinet downstairs. She felt weirdly rushed. After nearly sending an entire shelf avalanching on her head, Sakura forced herself to slow down. Naruto wasn't going anywhere, she assured herself, and abruptly derailed her thoughts before she could doubt herself.

Naruto was hissing at the cold water that seeped into his open wound when Sakura returned. He was so absorbed that he jumped slightly when she leaned in. She almost flinched at his wound. "Wow, it's swollen."

"It's nothing. I've had heaps worse before," Naruto said unthinkingly. Then he stiffened.

After a pause, Sakura murmured softly, "Have you now?"

Naruto grimaced. _What an idiot_, he berated himself. There was nothing he could do but nod hesitantly. But Sakura didn't ask, only wordlessly reached for his hand. She gently mopped it dry, and then opened the first aid box to come up with a disinfectant spray. Naruto watched her face carefully as she treated him. He was grateful that Sakura didn't press for answers, but the longer the silence dragged on, the guiltier he felt.

"Sakura, I-"

Without warning, Sakura pulled tightly on the bandage she had wrapped around his palm. Naruto yelped in protest. "Oops. Sorry," she said absently, but the apologetic smile she flashed him fell flat. Naruto thought he saw her eyes darken before they shifted back to his hand.

Several moments passed before Sakura spoke up again. "Naruto?" He tilted his head to show he was listening. Sakura bit her lip. "I'll listen if you want to talk… but if you don't, I'd rather not know." She peered up at him. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

He did. She was scared. At that moment, Naruto realised that he was too.

So he just nodded. "I understand."

Sakura smiled, and just like that it was like nothing had happened between them. "I wonder if Dad is up yet," she wondered, casually changing the subject.

Naruto knew the answer to that one. He'd checked earlier. "Oh, he's gone."

Sakura's hands stopped. "Gone?" she echoed.

Naruto began to nod bemusedly before his lack of tact hit him. He hastily backtracked. "Not _gone_-gone. He's still here but not… not _here_-here… um, what I mean is-" Kami, he was terrible at this. Naruto continued to trip over his incoherent words, trepidation quickly skyrocketing.

He was on the verge of pulling his hair when Sakura finally took pity on him. "He went to work, right?" Naruto snapped his fingers like she'd won the jackpot and his face cleared with a large grin at his own stupidity. Sakura chuckled. She wouldn't tell Ino, but she had missed Uzumaki Naruto. "Baka," she teased him.

His grin widened impossibly.

Shaking her head, Sakura tied the last knot. "How's that?" she asked him.

Naruto ran a finger along the bandage, closing his hand into a loose fist. It reminded him of almost being run over by Kazuo's car all those weeks ago and following the man home to immediately be pegged a pervert by his daughter. Sakura had fixed his bandage back then, too. "Thanks."

She packed away the box. "I think you should still get my dad to take a look at it later. It looks… bad," she finished hesitantly. It looked more than bad. The torn flesh was chopped, uneven and ragged, like a dozen blades had sawn at it. Sakura was glad Naruto had cleaned it himself; the blood might have been enough to bring up her non-existent breakfast.

Trying to distract herself from the gory image, Sakura added, "Dad probably knows you're here. He always comes into my room when he gets called to the hospital in the middle of the night."

Naruto pulled a face. It was just like Kazuo to not say anything. Any other parent would be threatening with bodily harm if they found their daughter lying on the floor of her post-hurricane room with a boy who had vanished without a trace. Suddenly, Naruto paled. He hoped Sakura hadn't-

Of course, one look at his expression and she was on to him.

Her fist made solid contact with his face. Naruto staggered backwards into the bathtub and flailed wildly for a second before falling bottom-first into it. He gaped at Sakura's livid expression, red with mortification. "You were thinking perverted thoughts, weren't you?" she huffed. "About us and… and… ugh! _You_ are going to tell Dad that there is nothing between us. Okay? _Nothing!_"

Naruto could only nod frantically. Survival instincts told him to withhold the surprise that came with realising the overwhelmingly _normal_ girl in front of him packed a punch comparable to chuunin. Sakura ought to meet Tsunade – although it might be better for Naruto if she didn't.

"Don't you have school?" he pointed out weakly.

Sakura froze. School. French exam. That she had hardly been able to study for. "Oh no, oh no… crap!"

Naruto released out a relieved breath when Sakura rushed out of the bathroom. He waited until she was in her room, digging through her scattered belongings. Then he pulled himself from the tub and patted himself down. He paused to sniff at his sleeve; his clothes were still damp and held the salty tang of sweat. Naruto wrinkled his nose. He was crossing the landing into the study without a thought.

He opened the door – and stopped.

His room was exactly the same.

Naruto's mind went blank for several moments. For some reason, the familiar sight of his clothes haphazardly thrown all over the place floored him.

Not looking away, Naruto found his voice to shout, "Sakura, how long was I gone?"

The loud noises coming from Sakura's room faltered. She slowly straightened, half-packed bag in hand. Her eyes were downcast. So Naruto didn't know how long he had been away. It didn't sound like he had simply forgotten. Forcing the thought to the back of her mind, Sakura banished the uncertainty from her voice and called back, "Almost two months, I guess."

Naruto's lungs resumed their function once more. For a moment, he had feared that years had flown by. He couldn't believe he hadn't even considered how much time had passed until now. It was silly now that he thought about it. Sakura hadn't changed at all and she had accepted him as if he had only been missing for a few nights. Then again, Naruto recalled, she had welcomed him into her household without inhibition even when they had been strangers. That memorable day seemed lifetimes ago.

Two months. Naruto looked back at the study. It had only been his temporary sleeping quarters, and yet the Harunos had kept it exactly as he'd left it. He could see that someone – probably Sakura – had attempted to tidy up his mess, tucking in drawers and folding up his blanket. Kazuo's pot plant by the window was still alive, too – it had even grown taller. Otherwise, nothing had changed.

Naruto walked over and picked a spare shirt off the floor. Had Kazuo and Sakura expected him to return?

"No way," he chuckled to himself, just to hear it the logic. But Naruto knew that they would do just that. They would believe in him when he wasn't so sure himself. It reminded him of the unwavering faith his friends had in him even when he failed them. Somewhere along the way, Kazuo and Sakura had broken down the walls between strangers. He didn't know how his hosts felt, but to Naruto, they were as good as family.

The jeans and polo shirt hugged him almost as comfortably as his hardy trousers and jounin vest. Naruto folded the latter two and tucked them away into a drawer, along with the weapons pouch he was unspeakably relieved that Sakura had not noticed. They belonged in this world even less than he did, but having them on hand still gave him a little comfort. Just in case.

Glancing into her room, Naruto could see Sakura mumbling to herself with a thick book open in her hand. He cocked his head. Maybe she had a quiz or something. If he'd studied nearly as hard as she did, Iruka-sensei might have picked on him less. A sad smile flickered across Naruto's face as he turned towards the stairs. Too late for regrets now.

When Sakura came downstairs, the first thing she spotted was Naruto in a familiar paw-printed apron. The second was the platter of toast on the counter. The fact that they were already spread with strawberry jam told Sakura that they were meant for her. She helped herself to one. By now, she was skilled at pointedly ignoring the strange feeling that came with being reminded that this boy had literally blown into her room after disappearing for weeks without a word. Already, she was beginning to forget that Naruto had left at all. He was here now, wasn't he?

Naruto glanced at the wall clock. "You're going to be late. You know, just saying."

"Mou," Sakura groaned around the warm bread. "I'll run." She wasn't on the track team for nothing. In fact, this was _why_ she was on the team. She had convinced Kazuo to stop dropping her off once she entered middle school. Her father was tardier than she was, in the same way the hospital was on the other side of town to her school.

She was ready to dash out the front door, French verbs ricocheting off her skull, when Naruto stuck a wrapped lunch box in front of her nose. For several seconds, Sakura just blinked at it.

Naruto was grinning. "Didn't have time, so I made you an Uzumaki sandwich. Stuffed with every edible ingredient I could get my hands on," he explained at her quizzical raised eyebrows. "Very nutritional."

Sakura took the offer with a dollop of scepticism. She was well aware of Naruto's eccentric cooking. At least it had never given her a stomach ache – yet. She carefully tucked the box into her bag. "I'll tell you what it tastes like when I get back," she told him.

"I say banana. Because I used a lot of them."

Banana. She didn't really want to know.

Sakura stopped with her hand on the door. She looked over her shoulder, meeting Naruto's eyes. She knew it was stupid, but she had already blurted the question without thought. "You'll still be here… right?"

Naruto's smile slipped – but only for a fraction of a second. Not missing a beat, he flashed her a thumbs up. "Definitely," he assured confidently. "You haven't seen the last of this handsome face!"

Sakura snorted but her expression cleared. "I'll see you later then, Mr Ego."

Naruto waved until she was out of sight. Which didn't take long – Sakura ran _fast._

Later, as he leaned on the counter with half-bitten toast in his mouth, Naruto realised that it had been a long time since he had last been alone in this house. Even before his… voyage, he had spent school hours working at the Yamanakas' flower shop. Those were normal days, the kind that had replaced what Naruto had previously deemed routine.

During the first weeks of his stay, Naruto had jolted awake at odd hours, automatically reaching for a non-existent kunai. Even in the safety of his village, his paranoia of waking in enemy territory, in Akatsuki's hands, had plagued his sleep. He'd painstakingly weaned himself off it, but the restless hours had returned far too easily when Naruto had woken in Suna. The few hours he had managed on the floor, gripping Sakura like a life ring, was the most soundly he'd slept since then.

God, he was pathetic.

Fresh air – that was what he needed. Nodding to no one in particular, Naruto scrubbed down his plate and was already halfway to the door before he stopped. _Keys,_ he thought. Back in Konoha, they'd stopped locking doors when it became obvious that thievery was the least of their problems. Most shinobi got by with simple warning seals as defensive alarms.

But this was not Konoha. The last time Naruto had forgotten his keys, Sakura had punished him by locking him out and slowly devouring the last cup of instant ramen on the other side of the door. He'd been shocked, to say the least; sometimes he forgot that Sakura was a teenager like him.

Now, Naruto impatiently dug through his room as he tried to remember if he'd left them in a pair of pants somewhere. No metallic clinking from any of the trousers piled in the corner. Trying the desk, he peered around the rectangular thing they called a 'computer' and felt around to see if the keys had fallen to the back. Nothing. He was seriously contemplating whether he should just leave a window open for the return trip when his hand knocked into them.

Naruto looked down. They had been there all along, sitting in the middle of the desk like they were waiting for him. Like someone had rummaged through his unwashed clothes knowing he would do the same thing.

The keys rested on a yellow post-it note.

_Don't disappear like that again. Sakura was worried about you._

For a long moment, Naruto continued to stare uncomprehendingly at the note. His eyes ran over the slanted scrawl again. Kazuo's handwriting was horrid. He left his letters half-formed, pen trailing into obscure squiggles that were neither here nor there. It was worse than Jiraiya's. Naruto found himself chuckling at the likeness, shaking his head as he pressed the heel of his palm into the sharp sting behind his eye.

Naruto's face twisted as everything that had happened slammed into him like a battering ram keen to see him fall.

He wondered what Jiraiya had been thinking before he died, if he'd had any regrets. Had he sighed wearily at how lame his apprentice was, failing when he was never supposed to? Naruto had wanted the old pervert to see him rise to Hokage – but that was alright, though, wasn't it? At this rate, Jiraiya wouldn't be missing out on much.

Naruto swallowed the thick lump in his throat. He wondered if the Leaf Village would be rebuilt again. Shikamaru would make a great Hokage, but he would refuse. His lazy friend's lifelong ambition was to live a regular, unremarkable life, and becoming the first crippled Kage would make his life endlessly troublesome. Sasuke's heart was in the right place now but he detested leadership and the council would never sanction a former turncoat. Naruto idly considered his friends, trying to picture each one in the red hat and white robes.

He couldn't get past Hinata.

"_You taught me so many things, Naruto. You taught me to believe, to never give up, to stay true to myself. So… so I'm not afraid to say that Hyuuga Hinata has always loved you… I-It's funny, isn't it, saying it now? But you also taught me…"_

"Better late than never," Naruto said aloud, softly. He wished he could tell Hinata that he'd heard her, that she was an irreplaceably important friend, a sister. He wished he could have the chance to thank her, to find out if some deep, clueless part of him actually reciprocated her feelings. He wished that next time, she would choose someone who could stay to do all those things.

Naruto closed his eyes and sucked in a shuddering breath as it hit him that he would never see Hinata, or any of his friends again. Not the ones from that timeline, who had fought four years without him and had made Suna their home. If ever.

Something niggled at the back of Naruto's mind. That he had managed to return to Sakura's time, only months apart, was too much of a coincidence. He tried to remember what the Nine Tails had said, but his mind refused to be still. The only thing Naruto knew was that he would be safely grounded to this time if he didn't use his chakra – and why should he, when there was no need to? When there was no reason to?

When he didn't want to?

Suddenly, Naruto was furious with himself. He was frustrated by the pettish tears that made his vision swim – but what he hated most was the realisation that, all this time, he'd been avoiding the simple reality that he'd begun regretting the Rasengan he'd formed back then. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't be so painfully guilty about letting the sheltered life here spoil him. If he hadn't done that, he could still hide behind the excuse that he had no choice.

Wasn't there anything he could do to let him forgive himself?

Kazuo's note was crushed in Naruto's fist. He opened his fingers and tried to see the crumpled letters through the watery blur, but then he blinked and the hot tears rushed down his cheeks.

_Don't disappear like that again._

"Damn it," Naruto choked out, squeezing his eyes shut. "Damn it…"

* * *

"Pens down," their bald, double-chinned teacher said in his aristocratic accent.

Ino obliged all too eagerly. She pushed her exam paper away from her and arched over the back of her chair in a feline's stretch. Her long arms came a bit too close to Sakura's face, seated behind her, and Ino's knee thumped painfully into her desk as her friend kicked her chair. Somewhere to their left, Ken snickered.

It took far too long for their papers to be collected. The school was almost empty by the time their class spilled into the hallways. Once outside, Ino stretched again – properly – and sighed appreciatively. "Freedom never tasted so good."

Ken and Sakura, as usual, were discussing the exam behind her. Ino never listened in; too many times she had left an exam confident in a B to discover otherwise five minutes out the door. Ken and Sakura – whose marks only fluctuated between A- and A+ – could completely dissect the exam before they reached the school gates and _still_ have more to stay about the strange wording of Question 34 on the walk home.

Ino glanced back at her friends now. It was just the three of them today; Yuumi didn't do French. She tried to remember how long it had been since they had walked down the same streets they had chased each other down since they were five years old.

"The extended response was weird. Two page recount of the happiest moment in your life. In French. What did you…" Ken's incredulous tone trailed off into raised eyebrows as he snapped his fingers in front of Sakura's vacant gaze. Jolting back, she automatically punched him in the shoulder – he knew she hated him doing that. "Someone's being an airhead," he teased.

Now _this_ was a conversation Ino felt she could safely engage in. She spun around. "Haven't you noticed? Sakura's been an airhead for weeks, Ken." She countered Sakura's glare with a smirk. "You know it's true."

"In my defence, it _is _exam period."

"It _was _exam period," Ken corrected. "Which means we have tennis today."

Sakura stopped, blinking. She looked over her shoulder for what she knew wasn't there. "Crap, I completely forgot," she groaned. "I don't have my racquet today."

"Airhead." Ino felt her point was proven.

"Just borrow one from storage. Kimura-senpai might smoke us if we don't show up." Ken was always the 'good friend'.

Sakura nodded slowly. "I should," she mused, and then hesitated. Ino wondered at the strange emotion that flickered through her friend's eyes. It wasn't quite fear – milder, somehow, but urgent enough that Ino knew tennis practice was the last thing the pink-haired girl was up for. But because she was Sakura, personal issues came second. "Let's go-"

"To the hospital? Yes – let's." All eyes swivelled to Ino, who was looking pointedly at Sakura's blank face. "Your dad needs you to bring an important file to him, remember? Dear lord, amnesia must run in the family."

"Amne – Ino?"

Who was grinning at Ken's quirked eyebrows. He shook his head wryly. They'd both known Haruno Sakura long enough that they could read her like a book. Ino didn't like to think that Ken had become slower on the uptake, but what mattered was that they were on the same page now. "I'll tell Senpai you had an emergency," he grinned.

"Awesome. Kimura owes me a favour anyway." Ino grabbed Sakura's hand, skilfully ignoring her protests. "See you tomorrow, Ken."

She knew her intuition hadn't been wrong when Sakura only struggled half-heartedly as she was pulled towards the gate. After Ken was gone, Ino let her go and Sakura frowned. "What was that about?"

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You've been spacey ever since Loverboy disappeared. But today, you're a different kind of spacey. You're in a suspiciously good mood. Except every now and then you remember something that makes you tune out of everything around you." She gave her companion a look. "So talk."

Sakura really hated how perceptive her best friend was sometimes. Trust Ino to notice what Sakura wasn't even aware of herself. "Look, I'm glad you got me out of tennis-"

"See? You're hiding something."

Sakura groaned inwardly as she adjusted her bag. At least they were almost at the gates. She'd have to shake Ino off quickly, or she might end up at a café somewhere getting interrogated by the blonde girl. "I'm not _hiding _anything. I've just got something on my mind. You're like that too sometimes, hypocrite."

"'Sometimes' is when I'm crushing on a guy, going out with a guy, or breaking up with a guy," Ino replied unhesitatingly, raising three fingers. "In your case, it's usually the last one but since you barely noticed Ken at all, I'm going to say that post-break-up depression is out today. So," she concluded, "if you insist on using me as an example, then you are in love."

Sakura had been shaking her head in disbelief the entire time. At Ino's last words, she stopped to stare dumbfounded at the other girl – not because she was right, but because Ino's logic, usually so frustratingly insightful, sounded incredibly silly to her right now. "I don't love him-" Sakura sighed exasperatedly.

"I knew it!" Ino crowed. "There is a guy involved."

"–I'm _worried_ about him, you pig. There's a difference."

"Who's a worrisome pig?"

And at the curious voice, both girls' minds immediately emptied of everything – everything but the tall blonde boy who had been waiting outside the school gates.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura blurted, just as Ino gawked, "Loverboy? Where the hell did you come from?"

Naruto blinked and bemusedly scratched his head. "Uh, I thought I'd pick you up. You know, like usual," he said to Sakura. When she continued to stare at him, he looked over at Ino. "And… I don't really know how to answer your question."

Thankfully, Ino didn't look deeply into his response. She was more concerned about other matters. Her expression scandalous, she rounded on Sakura while her finger jabbed into Naruto's chest. "You kept _him_ a secret?"

Sakura groaned inwardly at the confusion on Naruto's face. "I've got this," she told him before he could ask. She turned back to Ino. "He came back this morning, okay? I just haven't had the chance to tell you."

Ino looked dubious. She would have pressed on if it weren't for the slight inflection she heard in Sakura's tone, as if she didn't want to go there. Ino sighed. Being friends with this girl was harder than any school exam.

Shaking her head, she looked over at Naruto. "Fine, I'll believe Forehead. But you, mister – you are going to tell me what in the world you were thinking when you vanished without saying anything." She narrowed her eyes. "Are you in trouble with the police?"

Naruto looked appalled. Ino nodded thoughtfully before he could even answer. "Thought as much. You don't look shady."

Sakura was also watching Naruto. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want to hear him explain himself. But some part of her urged her to grab Naruto and get both of them away from Ino, who was asking all the questions Sakura should.

Before she could make up her mind, Naruto laughed softly. "I guess I was a bit… homesick."

"Homesick?" Sakura echoed in spite of herself, and he smiled sheepishly. That was how she knew that even though he was far from telling them the truth, he wasn't lying.

"So homesick that you didn't even think to leave a note for Sakura and her dad?" Ino questioned suspiciously.

"If I'd had to chance to, I swear I would have done it," Naruto said solemnly. He glanced at Sakura, looking so regretful she wondered if he knew how afraid she had been for him.

Ino sighed as if she was exasperatedly with her two companions. They were hiding things, but Ino had always been conscious of the line between what she should know and what she couldn't. "Well, you're going to need to come up with a better excuse." She smirked at Naruto's frown. "My dad won't let you back into the shop without one."

Naruto blinked, taking several moments to process what he had heard. "Boss will still want me?"

"Why are you so surprised? You were actually really helpful, you know. You're the best delivery boy we've had."

Why was he surprised? Because it had happened again. Sakura, Kazuo, Ino – they had reaccepted him so quickly and easily. Naruto felt terrible that the only thing he could do to repay them, was to let them be incurably kind to him.

Ino swung her bag over one shoulder. "Drop by tomorrow morning, alright?" She grinned mischievously. "Dad values my opinion highly. If you rub my back, I'll rub yours. If you know what I mean."

Sakura rolled her eyes, but Naruto took her seriously in that childishly gullible way of his. "I'll make you a bento," he offered eagerly.

So Naruto was the reason Sakura had had homemade lunch today, for the first time since… ah, since Naruto had disappeared. Ino smiled wryly to herself. She'd missed that. The gesture would have meant so much more if Naruto and Sakura weren't both the type to selflessly help whoever they could.

Ino considered herself an expert in relationships. For the first time, though, she couldn't see what kind of road Naruto and Sakura were heading towards. Friendship or more, she couldn't tell. She had never met a pair like them.

Still, she would never tire of teasing them. "I'll let you two have your _personal _time," Ino said impishly. Turning away from Sakura's exasperated expression, she bumped Naruto on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're back, Naruto. But if you make Sakura worry like that again, I will personally make sure you die childless. Got that?"

Suddenly, Sakura was nodding in agreement.

Naruto paled.

* * *

The best thing about Naruto was that with him, silence was never awkward. He had a way of entertaining himself, humming quietly or casually trying not to step on the cracks in the footpath. Sakura was content to let him walk half a step ahead of her, swinging her bag around as he hopped on ledges along the way. Naruto had always been cheerful but today, he seemed particularly animated, as if he was trying to embrace everything around him. He acted the complete opposite to Sakura, who for some reason felt that it had only been yesterday that they last walked down this path.

She looked at him now, gazing thoughtfully at his broad back. She felt she should say something, because no matter how hard she tried, it just wasn't possible to pretend that he hadn't just… _appeared_ in her room after an equally mysterious disappearance. But right now, listening to Naruto's off-tune humming, Sakura didn't want to break the moment. Right now, it was just another day.

When Naruto jumped ahead to the next crossing, Sakura found herself reaching out to hold him back by the shirt. "Let's go this way today," she said with a small smile. He blinked for a moment, and then grinned easily.

The harbour was tranquil as always. At this time of day, most people simply passed without stopping, on their way home. Sakura went over the edge, leaning over the silver rail. She gestured Naruto over, and pointed across the water at the other side of town. "Do you see that big hole in the ground over there? They cleared the land there while you were gone. A new mall is going to be built there."

"Bigger than the mall we usually go to?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Bigger. Heaps bigger." Sakura chuckled when his eyes widened. She remembered how easily the mall's size had astonished Naruto. "They haven't even started scaffolding though, so it'll be a few years before it opens."

Naruto's gaze grew distant. Where would he be in a few years? He couldn't really stay with the Harunos for that long, could he? It would be wrong to. Maybe he would find a place to live in this town, or set out to see more of this strange world. Or maybe, if fate hated him that much, he wouldn't even be here anymore.

An uncomfortable weight settled on his chest. _Think about something else_, Naruto told himself for the umpteenth time. If he went on like this, Sakura would notice and she would be concerned again. With that thought in mind, Naruto nodded to himself, plastered a smile on his face, and turned – and that was when he realised that Sakura was not by his side.

He whirled around, startled and tense. He couldn't help the instinctive dread that leaped at him. The adrenaline still tingling from his battle with Kisame buzzed and refused to settle.

"Chocolate or vanilla?" And just like that, Sakura was there, waving two ice cream cones in his face. Naruto's relieved breath whistled through his lips. He felt like a melodramatic idiot now. Being thrust back into the past had changed him.

"Chocolate is the best," he grinned, reaching for it. "Thanks."

"I say vanilla easily trumps chocolate," Sakura retorted.

"Yuck, it's tasteless."

"It just has a very subtle taste." Unconvinced, Naruto took a huge bite out of his ice cream. Sakura pointed at his brown-smeared lips. "See? That's why you can't appreciate vanilla. You don't even stop to taste it. Let it melt in your mouth and you'll love it."

He made a face. "Nuh uh. Chocolate has really good flavour, you know. It, like, explodes in your mouth the moment it hits your tongue. It's number one, hands down."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I've tried dozens of flavours and there are plenty heaps better than chocolate. I'm starting to think you hate every flavour that isn't chocolate."

"I only eat chocolate," Naruto boasted. It didn't really have the impressive effect he had been going for.

"What, so you haven't even tried anything else?" Sakura was shocked. "Why did you say vanilla was tasteless then?"

"A… friend of mine told me." Jiraiya had sworn it, sworn it on every single one of his 'best-selling' novels. Vanilla, he insisted, was like a porn magazine filled with thickly-dressed models whose last intention was to flash even one shred of their voluptuous bodies.

Sakura shook her head disbelievingly. She held her ice cream out to him. "Trust me, you're missing out. Try it. _Then_ you can hate it."

Naruto eyed it dubiously. "Fine," he decided finally. He leaned forward, mouth poised over the milky scoop. At the last moment, he paused and his eyes flickered up to Sakura's. "Sure?" he asked. He remembered the kind of conclusions she could jump to just by considering that she had once lent him her pyjamas.

Sakura rolled her eyes again. "No, I won't smack you into the water for trying to give me an indirect kiss, okay?" She, Ino and Ken had been sharing lunches since elementary school. Looking back, that probably explained why all three of them were always sick at the same time.

Naruto took a bite. Sakura watched him expectantly. "Don't just swallow it immediately," she warned, and he almost choked. Of course, he had done just that, and she had to let him have another bite. "Well?" she prompted when Naruto's expression turned contemplative.

He licked his lips. "It's not _tasteless_," he concluded finally. "But I still say chocolate is way better."

Well, at least she'd tried. "I'll show you some really good flavours another time. You'll jump ship immediately."

Naruto puffed up his chest. "Bring it!"

Her ice cream had a tinge of sweet chocolate in it. Sakura tasted it thoughtfully as she watched Naruto from the corner of his eye. He looked happier now. It was still slightly forced at the edges and it didn't change the fact that the first thing Sakura had noticed about him was his tired eyes, which told her he had been crying. But at least he wasn't the shivering boy who had clung to her like she was the only thing anchoring him to sanity. Sakura didn't want to see Naruto like that ever again, not if she could help it.

A crisp crunch told her that Naruto had finished his ice cream and was licking his fingers. Sakura was only halfway through hers. They fell into companionable silence while she ate. Naruto began to whistle.

"You can do whatever you want, you know," she told him after a long moment. He looked questioningly at her. Sakura bit into her cone to stall. "If you're sad, you should let it out. I… I won't stop you."

It took several seconds for Naruto to catch on. The first time they had walked through the harbour together, he had yelled his throat hoarse, pouring everything that weighed him down into the ocean. This time, he probably needed to vent even more than that. It wasn't a bad idea.

But then the wind picked up momentarily and Sakura's long hair brushed against his arm, making him look down at her. She thought she didn't know how to help him in any way except to give him the space to help himself. Naruto felt himself smile. Sakura was one of the most intelligent people he knew, but she was unbelievably short-sighted when it came to herself.

He shifted so that his broad back shielded her from the breeze. "Chocolate is the best, taste and medicine wise," Naruto grinned. "Cheered me right up."

She looked into his eyes, and smiled sadly. She didn't look away as she said, "Liar."

Naruto frowned. "I am not. That ice cream really helped."

Sakura shook her head. "You're lying to yourself. Naruto, you're not okay. Trying to pretend that you are won't change that."

The playfulness in his eyes faded away. "Then what do you want me to do?" Faintly, he recognised the signs of his rising temper, fuelled by suppressed frustration. He tried to stifle it. He shouldn't be angry, not at Sakura.

It didn't help that her emerald eyes were blazing with a fierceness that made it clear that this was what she really wanted to say, and that she was no longer in the mind to care if it was the right decision. "Get it off your chest. Confront it."

"You said you didn't want to know," he pointed out. Accusation. It was uncontrollable.

"I don't," Sakura shot back. She was getting riled, too, determined to see it to the end. "But I said that if you wanted to talk, I'd be there to listen."

"If you don't want to hear it, why should you?"

"Because I want to help you. I don't want to see you like this."

"Well, you can't understand why I'm upset without hearing what I went through. Which would upset _you_," he pointed out. He was biting out each word, the same way her voice was rising. They were attracting curious glances but neither of them cared.

"Yes, it will upset me but-"

"Then you're lying to yourself too, aren't you? You don't want to know what's wrong."

"I know that! Fine, I'll be honest then!" Sakura threw up a hand. "I'm confused, worried and I don't know what I want to hear. I'm scared. Does that satisfy you?"

"Guess what – I feel the exact same way." Naruto gripped the rail, cold and hard. He tried to control himself. "You don't want to hear what I've been through, Sakura. Let it go."

"Let it go?" she repeated. "You can't possibly believe that letting go will change what I already know. Do you know how-"

"You don't know anything!"

"I know that you're not normal!"

A sudden silence dropped over them like a bucket of ice water.

Naruto's next outburst died in his throat. He was hunched over the railing, squeezing it so hard his entire frame was rigid. Sakura turned her face away from him, biting her lip. Her ice cream had begun to melt in her hand.

Neither of them spoke, eyes fixed on the water or the concrete. A dull hollowness ate into Naruto's gut. He was sorry he'd let his temper get the better of him. He wanted to apologise and put it behind them – but something chained him, something that left Sakura's words echoing loudly in his head. Because she was right; he wanted to talk to someone. He wanted to believe Shikamaru and stop trying to shoulder everything on his own. The only person he could confide in was Sakura. But he didn't want to scare her away.

He hadn't realised he already had.

He heard her inhale a deep breath. She still wasn't looking at him. Quietly, she said, "I saw you, Naruto. You dropped out of thin air and blasted my room into chaos. I _saw_ you." She closed her eyes. "Normal people don't do that."

"That depends," he murmured. "I'm normal where I'm from. Mostly, anyway."

Sakura smiled faintly. "That's what I don't want to know. I… I want to keep pretending that you're just a regular boy, Naruto. I don't want to risk the chance that I'll never be able to look at you the same way." She lowered her eyes. "But seeing you like that this morning – you snapped. That scared me more than the fear of ruining our friendship. So if you want to talk, I will listen."

Naruto stared into Sakura's passionate gaze. She really was scared, cringing away deep inside. Yet she was standing next to him, so close even though they were worlds apart. Guilt ripped into Naruto as his eyes softened. "It doesn't work that way for me, Sakura," he said. He smiled slightly. "I'd rather snap than lose a friend."

They were both stubborn people. _It takes one to know one, _Sakura mused. "I'm not saying that hearing your side of the story will make me abandon you. You're not a bad person, Naruto. It's just… if I can help it, I don't-"

"Want to change the way things are?" Naruto finished. He felt the same. Sasuke had taught him what it was like to lose sight of your friends.

They were silent again. Sakura slowly finished her ice cream. She had vanilla all over her fingers and Naruto took a short trip to the ice cream stand to bring over some napkins. After she finished her ice cream, the two of them continued to stare into the ocean.

Naruto distantly watched an upturned beer bottle bobbing in the water. "Have you ever moved houses, Sakura?"

"Once, but I don't remember it. I was three."

"Oh. Lucky you."

Sakura glanced sideways at him. "You… moved away from your home, then?"

"More or less. I didn't want to move, though. It just happened." Naruto chuckled at that. 'Just happened' indeed. "I'd lived in the same place my whole life. It's just a village, nothing like the towns here. When I was little, lots of people hated me and I really wanted to run away sometimes, but I stayed because I had nowhere else to go. It was home. I wanted people to respect me, so I promised myself that one day, I'd be the village's hero, protecting everyone."

Sakura gave a small smile. It was a typical child's dream. Those were the ones that stayed with you. "But?" she said gently, because she knew it was coming.

"But," Naruto said slowly, "I went back and it turns out my home got destroyed while I was gone."

Destroyed. Sakura was going to ask before she recalled that, a long time ago, Naruto had said his home was in the middle of a war. She lowered her head. Suddenly, she felt a strange distance between the two of them. When they had met, he had been nothing but another boy to her. Even when he had climbed in through her two-storey window, Sakura hadn't suspected that they could be so different.

Naruto's shoulder nudged into hers. "Are you trying to look sad enough for both of us?" he joked.

"I don't think that's even possible." Sakura looked sadly at him. "At the end of the day, I'm not you. I don't know how you feel and pretending that I do is even worse."

"But you can listen, right?" he smiled. Naruto shrugged. "You know, I think it's the people that makes a place feel like home. My village was gone but the people who survived moved into another village. My friends were safe, too. I was happy – really, really happy."

"So what's the problem?" Sakura asked lightly.

The problem was that Naruto didn't really know what it was himself. He'd told Sasuke he had changed, but that didn't excuse the sheer isolation he'd felt in Suna. The relief he'd felt when he realised he was back in Sakura's bedroom made Naruto feel overwhelmingly guilty, as if he had betrayed his friends.

"Let's skip the problem," Naruto said quickly. "I can't try to explain it without saying stuff you don't… you know."

She couldn't ask for more. After all, they were trying to stay in the middle ground where both of them could understand each other.

"I'm sorry." When he looked confused, Sakura added, "Because I can't relate to what you went through."

Naruto looked at her. "You really don't want to, Sakura," he told her gently.

For some reason, that made her wince. Sakura was beginning to think that this wasn't fair. The two of them were both the same age, and yet Naruto seemed to have baggage even adults wouldn't have to carry. That thought alone was enough to make her lift her head and look her companion in the eye, "Try me."

It wasn't hard to tell when Sakura was serious. Naruto grimaced. She could say it so easily, but he knew neither of them wanted her to hear about what it was like to look at a crying child and feel as if you had hurt her yourself and had no right to hold her.

"Did you lose anyone close to you?" Sakura prompted softly, sensing his hesitance. It was among one of the most tactless questions she had ever asked. It was Ino who had taught her that sometimes, insensitivity was the only way to open someone up.

Naruto stiffened. "A… few," he managed to reply after a pause. Sakura looked sorry she'd asked, but her eyes didn't leave his face. Naruto took a deep breath. "When I went back, there was someone I really wanted to talk to. He was like a father to me – pretty silly sometimes but very reliable." He released the breath, a long sigh. "He wasn't around for me to talk to anymore."

A small warmth on his skin; Sakura was squeezing his arm. Naruto shrugged and smiled, even though it didn't quite reach his eyes. What was it like, Sakura wondered, to smile more easily for another's benefit than for your own?

"You've lost someone close to you, too?" he ended up asking.

Sakura paused as if to think. "Technically, yes." She shook her head. "Sorry, Naruto, I asked a stupid question. I asked you about something I can only imagine."

Naruto cocked his head. "I don't get it."

It was difficult to tell if he was genuinely curious, or if he simply wanted to change the topic. Either way, Sakura knew she wasn't going to get anything more out of Naruto. She was torn with hypocritical guilt; she wanted him to talk, but wished he wouldn't. If they went on like this, she would end up finding more about Uzumaki Naruto than she was ready to.

What if they flipped the coin? How much did Naruto know about her? Everyone had things they didn't bring up – but the two of them had decided that today was the time to do just that.

"It's nothing compared to your stories," she told him. Naruto waited; she already knew he was a good listener. "My parents divorced not long after I was born. It wasn't anybody's fault; they just weren't right for each other. They would have separated earlier, but then they found out my mother was pregnant with me and they thought they would give it another try. For me. It didn't really work out so when I was three, they went their own ways. Dad and I moved here."

Sakura absently scrubbed at the stickiness the ice cream had left between her fingers. "After a while, my mother met someone she liked and they saved up for a holiday. Mum wanted to stop on the way to the airport to see me before they left."

She closed her eyes to gather her thoughts. Her father never minced his words and he never lied to her. At times, Sakura wished Kazuo hadn't so obligingly given her 'the right to know' when she had asked. It was selfish, but it wasn't easy.

"It was raining that day," Sakura heard herself say. "The story goes that they lost control of the car at a sharp turn on the highway and veered into a truck in the opposite lane. Three other cars got involved in the crash. It was a big mess. Everyone got injured. They say it's a miracle there were only two casualties." She knew this because she had the newspaper cuttings folded and hidden in a shoebox in her closet. "They got taken to my dad's hospital. Dad was always busy back then and had to take me to work. So I was there too that night, playing with other kids in the pen. I… didn't even know."

She turned to Naruto then. He had been looking at her the entire time, and now Sakura understood what he had meant. It was weird seeing someone who looked more upset than you. It was also strangely assuring, comforting somehow. Naruto really wore his heart on his sleeve.

In a slightly more lifted tone made possible by years of resignation, Sakura said, "I don't remember my mother that well. Dad says she loved me and I'm happy to believe that. But when I think about her, it's hard to… grieve. It makes me sad but… it's not enough for me to understand what it's like to lose a parent." She smiled at Naruto. "That's why it was a stupid question. I asked even though I couldn't relate."

Naruto gazed into her eyes. The shimmer of the setting sun passing through them illuminated some kind of regret that made Naruto shake his head. "You do," he corrected. "Relate, I mean."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? I don't see how."

He grinned. "Guilty for the wrong reasons."

Sakura blinked. Then she laughed. Naruto did too. She leaned into his arm and they laughed so hard passer-bys gave them weird looks. They were laughing for the wrong reasons, but at that moment, it was the only thing that felt right.

* * *

It suddenly started pouring when Naruto and Sakura were minutes from home. Sakura began rummaging for her umbrella until Naruto grabbed her wrist. One look at his bright grin, and they were racing each other through the streets, shoes slapping against the wet pavement as they tried to jostle each other into lamp posts. It looked like Naruto would be victorious – until they reached the gate.

Just as he made to throw himself over it, Sakura leapt and vaulted over _him_. Surprised and caught off balance, Naruto yelped and tumbled ungracefully to the other side while Sakura landed elegantly.

He spat mud from his mouth and groaned. "Cheater."

Laughing, Sakura flipped wet hair from her face and leaned over him. "Sore loser."

And that was how they were presented to Kazuo when they let themselves into the house – muddy, windblown and dripping wet.

He paused with a fresh mug of coffee in his hand. Naruto noticed him first, his complaints trailing off. Sakura followed his gaze, expecting something much more frightful than her father, home early from work. "Dad," she greeted, still breathless.

Kazuo appraised her with amusement. It wasn't the first time Sakura had come home drenched. What _was_ new, was her flushed face and exhilarated glow. No one could miss the reason, not when it was standing next to her, slathered in mud.

Kazuo nodded at them. "Welcome home, you two. How bad is the rain?"

"Heavy. It came from nowhere." Sakura made a face as she took of her shoes and her wet socks squelched unpleasantly. "When did you come home?"

"Just then. I got called in at five so they let me off early." Kazuo glanced at the water draining from the teenagers' bodies to pool at the floor. "A shower might be a good idea."

"No kidding," Sakura agreed. She looked at Naruto, his front caked in dirt. "You first. If you take too long and I get sick, I'll make sure you do too." Kazuo coughed pointedly. Sakura gave her father an innocent look. "Yes, Doctor?"

Naruto watched as Kazuo rolled his eyes at his daughter. He knew he was making a dirty mess on the floorboards. It was the only thing he was aware of. He didn't even know that he'd dropped to his knees in a deep bow until Sakura gaped at him. "Naruto, what-"

"I'm sorry," he blurted out. He dropped his forehead to the wet floor and spoke to the ground. "I'm sorry," Naruto said again, squeezing his eyes shut. "You two have helped me so much and given me more than you had to. And the only thing I've done is make you worry. I…"

They had done more than that. They had kept his room the way he'd left it for two months when they had hardly known each other for longer than that. But Sakura had unquestioningly held him together as if just seeing him safe and intact was worth more than a trashed bedroom and long, silent weeks. Kazuo had given him a place where he should not belong.

"I'm sorry," Naruto repeated loudly.

For several moments, the only sound was the rain outside. Then Sakura was kneeling beside him, her hand on his elbow. "Naruto, get up first."

"No, stay there." Kazuo calmly sipped his coffee. "Get the broom, Sakura."

Sakura whirled around. "Dad?"

Naruto's eyes widened. Then he lowered his head again. He was surprised that Kazuo would be so relentless, but punishment had always been more appealing than unconditional forgiveness to Naruto. "Go on," he murmured to Sakura.

Sakura looked uncertainly at her father and dubiously fetched a blue-handed broom from the kitchen. Then she stood to the side, looking as if she was ready to jump between the two men.

Putting his coffee down on the counter, Kazuo took the broom. He flipped it deftly and tapped Naruto on the shoulder with the handle. "Kid, after you mop up this mess, you'll clean up the entire house, you hear?"

"Huh?" Naruto's head began to come up, but Kazuo kept him down with the broomstick. "Err, okay."

"Then you're going to wash the car, fix up the lawn and, hmm… I'll come up with more later." Kazuo looked down at the blonde boy kneeling before him. "Do all that and I might consider forgiving you for sleeping with my daughter."

"_What?_ I – ouch!" Naruto's head had shot up so quickly his skull cracked into the broomstick. He gaped at Kazuo, then stared horrified at Sakura's mortified expression. "Sakura-"

Her face flushed a deep scarlet. "I'm taking a shower!"

Naruto reached out futilely. "Sakura! Wait a minute!"

She was already gone, disappearing upstairs in a whirl. As her hair fluttered out of sight, the patient tapping of Kazuo's foot told Naruto he was on his own.

"Um. Well…"

* * *

It wasn't like she was eavesdropping because she cared or anything, Sakura assured herself. In fact, she wouldn't even call it eavesdropping. She was just… standing. It just so happened that they were also standing right below her, and talking in voices that were coincidentally loud enough to waft upwards towards her.

"Kazuo, listen, I… I didn't…" The sheer mortification in Naruto's voice threatened to give Sakura away with her barely-stifled snickers. Someone like him? Sleep with her? No wonder her father was picking on him.

Not like Sakura enjoyed being labelled a victim, or getting implicated into the act of flirting with a roommate. Both of which Kazuo had insinuated in one fell swoop. He was really enjoying this.

"Hmm? I can't hear you, boy." There was no way Sakura wouldn't be seen if she peeked, but it wasn't hard to imagine her father's expression. She knew her parent well. Kazuo was a brilliant actor. So many times, he had guilt-tripped his daughter with crushing disappointment just to teach her a lesson, when he'd forgiven her the moment she threw her small arms around his neck, crying.

A frustrated groan. "We didn't sleep together!"

"Well, that's what I saw you two doing on the floor."

"We were just _sleeping!_" Sakura silently slapped a hand to her face. Someone really needed to think before they spoke. "Wait – I mean-"

"Do you even care about her?"

"What? Of course I care about Sakura!"

"Then don't make her worry like that again."

Sakura raised her head, her gaze growing distant as it fell on the opposite wall. The vague shadows cast on it were still, silent. She closed her eyes. _You were worried, too, Dad._

"I'm sorry," Naruto said softly, and Sakura could hear that he truly was. She'd felt it long before he apologised. Uzumaki Naruto was a sincere person – but sincerity didn't explain everything.

Turning away, Sakura left the low murmuring voices behind. She didn't need to hear more, even though she wondered if Naruto would tell Kazuo anything he hadn't mentioned to her. She doubted it. To her, Naruto hadn't changed. He was still bright and cheerful, still reliable – still complex, hiding a weighty solemnity that belied his age.

Sakura shook her head. She had to keep reminding herself that even if she gave herself a migraine thinking about it, there was nothing she could do to make the situation any less complicated. All that mattered was that Naruto was back, safe and alive. She could ignore everything else. For now.

Sakura hadn't forgotten what had happened in the morning – there was no way she could. But in the midst of everything, minor details did elude her. That was why she didn't notice anything strange about the sight of her room intact and tidy, until she stepped inside and immediately tripped over her tennis racquet. Usually, Sakura kept it hanging from the wardrobe door, but today someone had shoved it behind the door with the handle sticking out.

Grimacing as she rubbed her ankle, Sakura leaned over to pick it up. She paused to blink when she saw that the racquet was only part of a mound of her belongings crammed in the corner between the door and closet. Besides her racquet, Sakura picked out one of her plush toys, a handbag and a semester-old Biology quiz.

When Sakura looked closely, she could see that the orderly state of her room was only a makeshift one. Her belongings were sitting in the wrong places and positions, the sheets on her desk hastily dropped in a scruffy pile.

Sakura hooked her racquet onto the wardrobe. It would probably take her longer to rearrange everything than it would have taken to clean up the mess herself. Still, he had tried, and it was enough to tug her lips into a small smile.

Cleaning would have to wait. Right now, all Sakura wanted was to get out of her wet, heavy clothes. She gratefully changed into a set of dry pyjamas and gathered her sopping uniform. Then, towelling her hair, she exited the room – and walked right into Naruto.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Swerving, he hastily twisted on one leg and flattened his back against the wall before they could smack into each other. Sakura's head came up, surprised. Naruto tugged at his muddy shirt, smiling sheepishly. "Don't want to get you dirty."

Sakura wrinkled her nose and playfully flicked her towel at him. "Take a shower. You stink."

"Says the one who made me fall!"

"Shush. I beat you fair and square." Sakura grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and steered him towards the bathroom. "Now hurry up. I want to shower too."

Naruto grinned cheekily. "Let's shower toge-" He broke off in a pained hiss as Sakura swiftly kicked him in the shin.

She smiled sweetly. "You were saying?"

"J-Just that, um, you should leave the cleaning up to me. Because I got the floor all dirty downstairs… yeah."

"Trust me, it's all yours," Sakura promised. Then, almost self-consciously, she tucked a lock of pink hair behind her ear. "So… you talked to Dad?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Kinda." Seeing Sakura's sceptical expression, he quickly added, "He knows nothing happened though! I told him we were just… err, sleeping."

He had been expecting a red-faced response from Sakura and had even guarded himself from sudden kicks or punches, so Naruto was surprised when she simply nodded absentmindedly. She slowly dried her hair with the towel. Her eyes were on the toothpaste on the sink behind Naruto as she said softly, "Just to prevent future misunderstandings, you shouldn't… barge in like that again."

Naruto opened his mouth, and then closed it. They had been speaking in code for long enough that he knew what she meant. He could only imagine what it had been like for Sakura, having him blast into her room like that. He had completely reshaped her ordinary life – just hers. The two of them could only turn to each other – and even then they were only semi-honest with themselves and each other. It wasn't easy.

He opened his mouth – only to have Sakura's towel tossed over his head. "If you say 'I'm sorry' one more time, I'm locking you out of the house," she warned. "Just take your shower and stop thinking, alright?"

By the time Naruto managed to free his head, the bathroom door had already slammed in his face. He stared at the closed door for a moment, and then smiled to himself. "Hey, Sakura?" he called, because he knew she was still standing on the other side. "Thanks."

She didn't answer. Maybe she had already said everything she needed to. At least, that was what Naruto thought.

With his shirt pulled halfway over his head, he stopped at the sound of Sakura's voice, muffled and quiet: "Don't give up. Okay, Naruto?"

For some reason, he burst out laughing. "What are you talking about? I _never_ give-"

His voice died in an instant. His eyes widened.

Sakura frowned, raising her head. "Naruto?"

On the other side of the door, Naruto was staring disbelieving at his reflection in the mirror. That was right. He never gave up. Even now, it was the one thing he literally could not do. And yet, he'd somehow… forgotten that. He had been stubbornly hanging on to his emotions simply because he felt he had to, not seeing that trying to see himself through this by avoiding it altogether wasn't like him.

Suddenly, he felt like an idiot. Sakura had noticed this immediately – she'd even shouted it at him. But for some reason, the full impact of her words only hit him when she wasn't even trying.

Naruto felt like smacking himself. "I'm so _slow!"_ he said aloud.

Sakura blinked, eyebrow arched. Then she laughed. "Yes. Yes, you are."

* * *

It was strangely comforting, lying awake in a dark, quiet house. For Naruto, who had lived on his own from the moment he was old enough to, the simple knowledge that two others were alive and breathing with him under the same roof was unbelievably soothing.

Naruto shifted the positioning of his arms beneath his head. Midnight had come and gone hours ago. His eyes were red and tired; it had been a long day. But sleep was impossible. He was restless somehow, even though his mind was curiously blank. Eventually, Naruto came to the conclusion that his body wanted him to do something that his mind just could not figure out.

Sometimes, Naruto was surprised that he was still sane and standing. There was something about being knocked down so many times. It wasn't fun realising that he had spent all his life getting back up from one setback or another – sometimes several at a time. It meant that Naruto was good at putting the bad things behind him, but it didn't mean he forgot.

It seemed worlds away, but he could still remember what Shikamaru had said to him.

_"_You_ aren't the only one who screwed up, Naruto. You were gone for four years and in that time, we were the ones fighting. _We_ couldn't defend our village. We can't fix that, alright?"_

Naruto wondered if his friend was beating himself up over what had happened. He hoped Hinata had told him he was sorry… Naruto frowned. Of course Hinata would tell him. It wasn't like she wouldn't have the chance to. Even if she did pick a fight with Kisame – and Naruto knew she would; she was weirdly stubborn like that – there was no way Hinata would go down without a fight.

_Not like she'll go down_, he reminded himself. Hinata was strong. It was just Kisame. Kisame… the Monster of the Mist, with chakra reserves as large as a jinchuuriki's and who had easily fended off Konoha's attempts to have him eliminated.

Naruto sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut just as the terrible guilt rode over him. He had to come to terms with it sometime. He had led his friends into danger.

No – he had led danger to _them_.

"_We can't fix that, alright?"_

Outside, a car horn cut sharply into the night. Naruto winced involuntarily. He always did; it reminded him of staring wide-eyed at certain death. A car shooting out from nowhere, a kunai in the gut, Fire Jutsu to the face… dying was just too easy. No one would believe Naruto if he admitted that he was afraid of death, but he was. He was terrified of dying with regrets.

Naruto opened his eyes. Then he took a deep breath, closed them again and went under. The darkness came swiftly, followed by the eerie red glow and stench of rotting hatred and old blood. He was getting good at this.

"Alright, Kyuubi. Let's talk."

* * *

A/N: This chapter was delayed by Christmas and New Years, and catching up with friends. I've gone back and changed the names in past chapters, just like I did with Precious People a while back. It's now Uzumaki Naruto instead of Naruto Uzumaki, simply because I'm losing track of which format I use in which story.

Anyway, hope this chapter was enjoyable even though it's mostly filler.


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